In this environment of asymmetric polarization (i.e. Republicans, not Democrats, becoming more extreme), we need politicians who will take on the far right with moral clarity and determination. Which is why I
supported Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her primary campaign. Her willingness and ability to counter toxic GOP narratives is indispensable if Democrats hope to stop the rising tide of right-wing extremism. The half-measures, watered down policies, and empty platitudes that Democratic politicians have become accustomed to over the years won't cut it in the face of encroaching fascism.
The majority of Americans
agree with progressive positions, and Democratic leaders must finally learn to speak in clear, moral language. To speak of right and wrong. To have the courage of their convictions. To counter the GOP's inhumane policies. To fight back with the determination and intensity required in this fraught moment.
Not a day goes by without a concern-trolling mainstream pundit admonishing Democrats not to move "too far left." Oddly, these political "experts" never seem to care about the Republican Party's lurch to the far right. The stale myth of a reasonable "center"—the false equivalence that seeking universal health care is as extreme as coddling neo-Nazis—has got to end.
For me, going left is going back to core American values and principles. Freedom of speech. Fairness. Justice for
all. Common sense solutions to the scourge of gun violence. Putting an end to extreme inequality. Protecting the environment. And on and on.
Progressive positions are the morally correct ones. And those who claim embracing them somehow alienates the mythical "center" are simply echoing GOP narratives. I'll end with a brilliant quote from author and professor Tayari Jones that I include in my forthcoming book,
Digital Civil War: "There is nothing inherently virtuous about being neither here nor there . . . What is halfway between moral and immoral?"