Progressives Must Build on Bernie's Movement to Transform the Country, but First We Must Elect Hillary

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

31 July 16

ow that the convention is over, I want to say something to those of you who understand that the American political-economic system is at a crisis point -- that the widening inequalities of income and wealth are undermining our democracy, and are creating a vicious cycle of wealth translating into power and thereby enhancing wealth. This must be reversed.

First, big changes in the structure of power don't happen easily or quickly. They take great energy and tenacity. That's why the movement Bernie's campaign spawned is so important. In many ways it is still just beginning. So if you have "felt the Bern," don’t be discouraged or cynical. The moneyed interests would like nothing better than for all of us to give up. Then they win it all. We must keep building that movement.

Second, even if you take Hillary Clinton at her word and believe she will fight to reform the system, she can't possibly do it on her own. She will need a large, tough, energetic movement to push her and others in Washington to do the right thing. I have served in Washington and I know the truth: Nothing good happens in Washington unless good people outside Washington are mobilized and organized to demand good outcomes.

Third, we must act soon and not wait until just before the midterm elections of 2018 or the year before the presidential election of 2020. At this point I don’t know what Bernie is planning to do with his list of contributors and activists; hopefully he will use it in ways that help you and others at the grass roots to continue to mobilize and organize. Regardless, you can accomplish a great deal on the basis of the contacts you’ve already made, and the organizations you are already engaged with.

Fourth, I don’t think it possible to build and sustain this movement within the Democratic Party – not because the Democratic Party is stupid or evil but because there is no Democratic Party as such. Like the Republican Party, it’s mainly a giant money-raising machine designed to raise big donations from wealthy people and corporations. Which is precisely the problem.

Fifth, the most immediate and important goal is to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Some of you think a Trump presidency would galvanize a more forceful progressive movement in response, but rarely if ever in history has a swing toward the authoritarian right moved the political pendulum further back in the opposite direction. Instead, it tends to entrench and legitimize authoritarianism, and move the “center” further rightward. Besides, Trump could do huge and unalterable damage to America and the world in the meantime. Think of the Supreme Court.

What all this means is that over the next months you will need to do two things that seem superficially contradictory but which, as a practical matter, are not: Support Hillary (or at the least do nothing that increases the odds of Donald Trump becoming President). And also continue to build on the momentum of the Bernie campaign toward the long-term goal of reclaiming our economy and our democracy for the many, not the few.

What do you think?