Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is right on in this explanation of what it means to be a progressive. We're not here to score political points, or sell out the people to get some watered-down compromise (see Mary Landrieu vis-a-vis the Arctic Wildlife Refuge & the Louisiana coastal protection). Read the rest of his post at TPM Cafe.

It is the responsibility of us progressives to make sure that the political debate stays focused on the central economic issues that affect the vast majority of Americans. These issues unite Americans across racial lines, across gender lines, across sexual orientation lines, across ethnic lines, across religious lines. A clearly, articulated and sincerely-held progressive agenda -- based on the economic needs of the American middle and working class -- is, in my view, the only way that we will put together the coalition capable of ultimately prevailing over the radical right wing Bush program.

There is one point I want to make clear because all too often I see this discussion of progressivism vs centrism as merely one of gaining tactical advantage in an election. I am a progressive because that is what I believe at my core. It is not some position of convenience to be shed the next time some Washington wonk decides it's more advantageous to be a centrist. And in my experience, voters are much more sophisticated in being able to spot insincerity than those inside the Beltway give them credit for. When American people believe someone is truly fighting for them and their families, they respond. It's time to end the mixed messages and recommit ourselves to creating an economy that works for all Americans.