A Pledge to Transform the Resistance, and America
It declares “both major political parties have allowed the wealthy and the giant corporations to exercise far too much influence in American life” before laying out an 11-point agenda to rebuild a human-centered economy, and remove the corrupting influence of big money from the political process.
“Resistance” to Donald Trump is a vital effort. But resistance is reactive; it only defines what we’re against. If today’s resistance is to become a lasting movement, we must decide what we’re for. Otherwise, the Resistance will fail to motivate the 38 percent of Americans who didn’t vote in the last election.
Run the Numbers
In what may be a chilling portent of things to come in November, the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll shows the “generic Republican” congressional candidate edging ahead of the generic Democrat for the first time since April of last year.
All signs indicate that it will be hard for Democrats to win in November without a clear and positive agenda, and all but impossible for them to claim a real mandate if and when they do.
The agenda’s 11 points address:
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Jobs for all, with an emphasis on rebuilding U.S. infrastructure;
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Build a green economy by retooling the U.S. energy system;
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Reduce inequality through worker empowerment and labor rights, with better wages and benefits and an end to perverse CEO incentives and compensation;
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Complement full-employment initiatives with targeted support for communities and populations harmed by racism and sexism;
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Free public education from pre-K through tuition-free public colleges and universities, together with cancellation of all currently outstanding student debt;
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Medicare For All, and a strengthening of our social insurance safety net;
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Fairer tax rates for the wealthy individuals and corporations that have reaped the benefits of recent growth;
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An end to Wall Street exploitation — by breaking up the big banks, levying a speculation tax, protecting working families, and using the post office system to provide a safe and inexpensive alternative to current banking services;
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And, an end to oligarchy politics through publicly-financed elections, bans on corporate and big-donor campaign funding, and other electoral reform; and, a change in party nominating processes to ensure that outsider candidates get a fair chance.
What Voters Want
These are the kind of reforms rank-and-file Democrats want, according to polling data. In a recent Harvard-Harris poll, Democratic base voters were asked: “Do you support or oppose movements within the Democratic Party to take it even further to the left and oppose the current Democratic leaders?”
52 percent of those polled said they support them. In a telling sign for the party’s future, 69 percent of voters aged 18 to 34 agreed. As we wrote in October 2017, this desire is not limited to the “Bernie Bro” stereotype promoted by political insiders. This position has greater support among female voters (55 percent), Hispanic voters (65 percent), and African-American voters (55 percent) than it does among whites (46 percent) and men (49 percent).
But support for this agenda is not limited to Democratic voters. 75 percent of Americans support more federal spending on infrastructure, according to Gallup, while 73 percent want the US to place more emphasis on alternative energy. in another poll, 75 percent of Trumpvoters supported “taking action to accelerate the development and use of clean energy” by funding community upgrades and community renewable projects.
Other polls show strong support for labor unions, increasing the minimum wage, reducing inequality, getting big money out of politics, and other key elements of this agenda – and that’s without advocacy and support from either political party.
The report’s agenda is also buttressed by a recent economic growth from the Levy Instituteshowing that the cancellation of all student debt in this country would lead to significant growth and the creation of more than 1 million jobs.
Working for Change
If the resistance remains focused on Trump to the exclusion of other issues, Trump will continue to dominate the media conversation as he has done for the past year. The debate also needs to address people’s lives and needs. Otherwise, voters may believe Democrats are uninterested in stagnating wages, soaring out-of-pocket health care costs, or the grim reality that the American majority – 80 percent, according to one survey – lives paycheck to paycheck.
Voters want leaders who will work for change. While this agenda was not designed as a litmus test, it certainly represents a platform that activists can use to assess political candidates. Conversely, candidates can use it to drum up support, knowing that it is backed by strong policy analysis and good politics.
It’s also backed by an impressive and diverse group of initial signers. It includes leading activists like Nina Turner, Jane Fonda, James Zogby, and Gloria Steinem; labor leaders like Larry Cohen, Randi Weingarten, and Leo Gerard; environmentalists Annie Leonard and Bill McKibben; political thinkers like Naomi Klein and Zephyr Teachout; and leading economic thinkers like Robert Reich, James K. Galbraith, and Dean Baker.
(I genuinely regret not listing them all, since I’ve had to leave out so many terrific people. You can see them all here.)
There are many ways to look at this agenda: as a political statement, as an organizing tool, and as a unifying statement. I also think of it as “11 ways we can make our own lives better” — as individuals, as members of our communities, and as citizens. You can read it in full, and sign your own name to it, here.
The Initial Pledge Signers
Signers endorse as individuals. Organizations listed for identification only.
Roger Hickey - Co-Director, Campaign for America’s Future
Janet Dewart Bell - Author, Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Larry Cohen - Board Chair, Our Revolution
Robert Borosage - Co-Director, Campaign for America’s Future
Heather D. Gautney - Associate Professor of Sociology, Fordham University (at Lincoln Center)
Richard Eskow - Writer and Zero Hour Host
Baye Adolfo-Wilson - Economic and Housing Development Advocate
Dedrick Asante-Muhammad - Racial Economic Equality Advocate
Nancy Altman - Social Security Works, President
Dean Baker - Center for Economic Policy Research, Co-Founder and Senior Economist
Krystal Ball - People’s House Project, President
Lara Bergthold - WeAreRally.com
Angela Glover Blackwell - PolicyLink Equity Action Network
Robert A. Blecker - American Univ. Economics Department
Michael Brune - Sierra Club, Executive Director
Julie Burton - Women's Media Center, President
Dan Cantor - Working Families Party
Charles Chamberlain - Democracy for America, Executive Director
Nita Chaudhary - UltraViolet Co-Founder
Donald Cohen - In the Public Interest, Executive Director
Chuck Collins - Institute for Policy Studies-Inequality Program
Maria Echaveste - Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, Policy Director
Christopher Edley Jr. - Opportunity Institute, Co-Founder & UC Berkeley Law School, Prof
Jennifer Epps-Addison - Center for Popular Democracy Network, President and Co-Executive Director
Zack Exley - Brand New Congress
Jeff Faux - Economic Policy Institute, Founder
Jane Fonda - Actor, Writer, Activist
James K. Galbraith - LBJ School of Public Affairs at U of Texas at Austin, Professor
Anna Galland - MoveOn
Joseph Geevarghese - Good Jobs Nation
Leo Gerard - United Steelworkers, President
Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. - Princeton University Center for African-American Studies, Chair
George Goehl - People’s Action, Co-Director
Adam Green - Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Mark Winston Griffith - #Millions of Jobs
Sarita Gupta - Jobs With Justice, Executive Director & Caring Across Generations, Co-Director
LaDonna Harris - Americans for Indian Opportunity
Wenonah Hauter - Food & Water Watch, Executive Director
Jim Hightower - The Hightower Lowdown, Editor & Our Revolution Board
Leo Hindery, Jr. - Business Leader, Author, Civic Activist
Leah Hunt-Hendrix - Solidaire, Co-Founder
Madeline Janis - Jobs to Move America, Executive Director
Saru Jayaraman - Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Co-Founder
Alan Jenkins - The Opportunity Agenda, Executive Director
Jane Kleeb - Bold Alliance President, Our Revolution Board & Nebraska Dem Party Chair
Naomi Klein - Author, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics & Winning the World We Need
Thea Lee - Economic Policy Institute, President
Gabriela D. Lemus - Progressive Congress, President and Executive Director
Annie Leonard - Greenpeace USA, Executive Director
Michael Lighty - National Nurses United
Heather McGhee - Demos, President
Bill McKibben - 350.org Founder, Author, Environmentalist
Manuel Pastor - USC Professor of Sociology / American Studies & Ethnicity
Robert Pollin - Political Economy Research Institute, Co-Director
Ai-jen Poo - National Domestic Workers Alliance, Director
Robert Reich - Former Secretary of Labor
Rashad Robinson - Color of Change, Executive Director
Charles Rodgers - New Community Fund, President
Hector Sanchez Barba - Nat. Hispanic Leadership Agenda, Chair & LCLAA, Exec. Dir.
Ilya Sheyman - MoveOn
Donna Smith - Progressive Democrats of America, Executive Director
Gloria Steinem - Author, Activist, and Co-founder, Women's Media Center
Margery Tabankin - Philanthropic Advisor
Stephanie Taylor - Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Zephyr Teachout - Fordham U Law Professor and Anti-Corruption League
Shaunna Thomas - UltraViolet Co-Founder
Gloria Totten - Public Leadership Institute
Corbin Trent - Justice Democrats
Vien Truong - The Dream Corps #GreenForAll, CEO
Nina Turner - Our Revolution, President
Toni Van Pelt - National Organization for Women, President
Dorian Warren - Center for Community Change Action, President
Randi Weingarten - American Federation of Teachers, President
Robert Weissman - Public Citizen, President
Billy Wimsatt - Movement Voter Project and Gamechanger Labs
James Zogby - Arab American Institute, President
