boedica, how many progressives do you think are currently elected to national government?
There's Dennis Kucinich, arguably Alan Grayson, Maurice Hinchey, Jan Schakowsky, Bob Filner, Raul Grijalva, James McGovern, Barbara Lee, Sam Farr, George Miller, Yvette Clark, and Lynn Woosley in the House. In the Senate, there's Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders (an Independent and socialist), Russ Feingold, Dick Durbin, Jeff Merkley, Ben Cardin, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Out of 535 elected representatives in Congress, that's 19, or 3%.
If you think being a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus automatically means you're a progressive or that someone like Nancy Pelosi or Obama is a "progressive," okay, but that's a bastardization of the term. Politicians can and do claim whatever affiliation they want (Bush called himself a conservative while overseeing massive expansions of government), but it's their actions and voting record that define them and only those who consistently advocate progressive causes are really progressive, just as only those who consistently advocate libertarian positions are really libertarians.
Is 3% too much to represent the 16% of Americans who identify as "progressives"? Or what do you think makes a progressive and how many members do you think fit that bill?
There's Dennis Kucinich, arguably Alan Grayson, Maurice Hinchey, Jan Schakowsky, Bob Filner, Raul Grijalva, James McGovern, Barbara Lee, Sam Farr, George Miller, Yvette Clark, and Lynn Woosley in the House. In the Senate, there's Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders (an Independent and socialist), Russ Feingold, Dick Durbin, Jeff Merkley, Ben Cardin, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Out of 535 elected representatives in Congress, that's 19, or 3%.
If you think being a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus automatically means you're a progressive or that someone like Nancy Pelosi or Obama is a "progressive," okay, but that's a bastardization of the term. Politicians can and do claim whatever affiliation they want (Bush called himself a conservative while overseeing massive expansions of government), but it's their actions and voting record that define them and only those who consistently advocate progressive causes are really progressive, just as only those who consistently advocate libertarian positions are really libertarians.
Is 3% too much to represent the 16% of Americans who identify as "progressives"? Or what do you think makes a progressive and how many members do you think fit that bill?