Flooding positions of oppression with diverse people is not indicative of progress. Some people I know are very excited about Biden’s cabinet. CNN is on a lot in our house, and they have ample praise for the plethora of nonwhite, nonmale leaders. I would be more excited if his cabinet wasn’t filled with neoliberal and neoconservative leaders.
By all accounts, the progressive voter base won this election. Every single house democrat who backed medicare for all retained their seat. Every democrat who lost reelection is staunchly at the center or right of the party. Establishment democrats push the narrative that progressivism is too risky, and they won’t get enough votes. The reality is, even people who wouldn’t call themselves leftist are aligned with leftist policies. Polls consistently show that over two/thirds of voters are in favor of medicare for all, and a poll by Vox showed similar support for canceling student debt. Even the majority of those polled by Forbes would like to see some amount of student debt forgiveness. This evidence contradicts that the traditional view of United States centrism. Political analysts often define moderateness as somewhat closer to conservatism than leftism, a notion largely reflective of the idea that Democrats and Republicans are rather balanced, that each share similar support and are equally far from center.
However, as we have seen from voters in recent elections, support for the Republican core is waning. Republicans have only won the popular vote once in the past 8 presidential elections, and some states that have been reliably red for years are now threatening to flip. Georgia has of course already flipped, but even perennially conservative states like Texas and North Carolina show signs of turning. We are seeing this change now not only because the general public consensus has recently moved to the left, but because of the impassioned drive to combat systemic voter suppression revealing that those states may never have been very red to begin with.
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About the Greatest MINDS Blog Columnist:
Benjamin Grady is a junior at Hampshire College studying revolutionary community building efforts. He is interested in ways to practically build a collective's strength and integrity, from familial love in a communal context, to garnering local political influence. He would love to be able to teach the younger generation how to deconstruct unhealthy, prevalent stigmata across today's culture. In his spare time, Ben enjoys playing basketball, walking his dog, and watching streamers on Twitch.
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