Following up on Downtowner’s post, I note that David Sirota has a new post up at Open Left which extends the discussion a little further.
Progressives have some allies right now, even if it sometimes feels like we don’t. There are people in Washington who understand how movement politics actually works. They understand the story Chris relayed about the interaction between President Clinton and then-Rep. Bernie Sanders in 1993 — that continuing to push on health care will get us closer to short-term and long term goals, whether we achieve those goals on this bill or not.
Progressives and Democratic partisans should be able to respectfully disagree on the tactics and process — specifically on whether the Senate bill should have been voted up or down (and you’ll note, those saying the Senate bill should have been sent back to the drawing board have been largely respectful, while the other side has been increasingly enraged and vitriolic). But the value of having at least some progressive voices pushing hard and demanding more is absolutely undeniable.
Movement politics versus partisan politics. That’s the heart of the matter.
