The Myth of the Progressive Republicans

Neither major party has any idea of how to create or maintain high-quality, productive, permanent jobs. They only know how to keep borrowing large sums of money to paper over immediate problems whose solutions they refuse to consider.

Here in Minnesota a third-party candidate, Tom Horner, again made a serious bid for Governor, but again fell short. And we Minnesotans are relatively hospitable to third parties.

So, what can people do who are dissatisfied with the current state of politics?  It seems to me that one of the more promising options would be to strengthen the moderate or progressive wing of the Republican Party. Make this party look more like what it was in the days of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Theodore Roosevelt. Republicans need to show more sympathy for working people and the poor and embrace the spirit of international cooperation rather than war. President Eisenhower’s policy of “peace and prosperity” would be a big improvement over what we have now.

I ran for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, with Bob Carney, in this year’s Republican primary.  With little outside support, we finished second in the primary with 9,800 votes or 7.5% of the total. Bob presented himself in the campaign as a “moderate, progressive Republican”. We have since been discussing what this means.

I have put together a website at http://www.ProgressiveRepublicans.org that proposes how the progressive wing of the Republican Party might become revitalized. The basic idea is that it must be issues-driven.  Its platform, however controversial, should include enough issues (and the right ones) to be capable of assembling an electoral majority. My list includes the following points of decision:

1. for more international cooperation and less unilateral use of military force,

2. for job creation through reduced work hours rather than government deficit spending,

3. for tax increases targeted to the wealthy if needed to keep the federal budget in balance,

4. for the deficit problem to become a priority,

5. against the dualistic world view of the Civil Rights movement in its contemporary manifestation which blames “racism” and “white society” for our common problems,

6. for federal legislation to increase paid leave and maintain standards of humane treatment in the work place,

7. for environmental protection as a new economic imperative,

8. for a compromise policy on illegal immigration suspending deportations while requiring registration and requiring employers of such immigrants to pay a surtax to help cover the increased social costs,

9. against the abusive use of building inspections by local governments,

10. for a new, independent investigation into the events of 9/11,

11. against political correctness and its violation of free speech,

12. for ending the war on illegal drugs and funding more treatment programs,

13. for a greater federal role in insuring or providing health-care services,

14. for greater regulation of the financial-services industry, especially hedge funds and derivatives,

15. against free trade and for the use of tariffs to promote improved labor and environmental standards around the world,

16. against the cruel deception of young people who are being urged to take out student loans to go to college and prepare for nonexistent jobs,

17. for a crash program to reduce traffic congestion in urban areas, and

18. for a crash program to develop technologies that will help sustain human life in outer space.

Not everyone will agree that these positions are “progressive”, “Republican”, or even desirable.  Many are outside the mainstream of conventional political thinking.  But that only means that the many Americans who are concerned about such things and have previously been marginalized can have a political home.

The conservative Republican politics of Goldwater and Reagan, after so many years of ascendancy, has spent its creative force.  It’s time for the “RINOs” – Republicans in the mold of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Theodore Roosevelt – to come charging back into today’s political arena and take a fresh look at problems that dominant factions within the two major parties seem unable to address or solve. Both the Republican party and the American people will be stronger for it.”