Subject: [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer -- Combating the Desease of Progressive Cynicism
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:51:26 EDT
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Combating the  Disease of Progressive Cynicism 

Lately there has been a growing wave of cynicism on the Left.  Many 
progressive voices are poised, at  the drop of a hat, to believe that the Obama 
Administration – or the Democratic  leadership in Congress, or even the leaders 
of many progressive institutions –  can’t wait to abandon progressive 
values and sell out the aspirations of the  base of the Democratic Party.  
It’s easy to understand where that cynicism comes from.  On many fronts, 
the last eight years –  in fact, the last forty -- have been incredibly 
frustrating for those of us who  have struggled to make fundamental progressive 
change. Of course it is always  hard to change the status quo.  Just  as in 
physics, inertia is a powerful force to overcome.  It is easy for those with a 
vested  interest in the way things are, to exploit the fear of the unknown 
-- even among  those who would gain the most from change. 
The collapse of the economy, the failure of Neo-Conservative foreign  
policy, the election of Barack Obama and Democratic majorities in Congress, have  
created a new moment of possibility that Progressives don’t want to waste.  
Many of us are passionately committed to  taking advantage of this 
extraordinary opportunity to make real progressive  change.  
But the best way to squander this rare, historic opportunity is to allow  
the disease of cynicism to infect our ranks -- to be ready, on a hair 
trigger,  to bet against our own success. 
My late father liked to spend time at the craps tables in Las Vegas.  He 
had a betting system that worked  pretty well for him over the years.  Among 
other things, he always bet against the shooter.  In the end, after all, the 
shooter in  craps always craps out.  
That makes a lot of sense when it comes to craps.  It makes no sense at all 
when it comes  to making progressive change. 
Take the question of the public health insurance option.  Many progressive 
commentators and  bloggers seem intent on believing that, at every juncture, 
the public option  must be dead. They willingly join in the narrative of 
the “sophisticated”  commentators in the mainstream media who always think it’
s “naïve” to think that  real change is possible in Washington.   
Now, I don’t claim to have perfect knowledge of the future.  But I believe 
the odds are very high  that by the time the Senate Finance Committee bill 
is merged with the Senate  Health Committee bill – and the final Senate bill 
is merged with an excellent  House bill in the House-Senate Conference – 
Congress will pass strong,  progressive, health insurance reform that will 
finally fulfill the promise of  health care for all and include a public option. 
 
One thing I know for sure.  If Progressives constantly pronounce the public 
option dead – it will  be.  The cynics will create a  self-fulfilling 
prophecy.  In fact, the cynics who are so convinced  that the President and 
Democratic Leadership will “sell them out” on health care  help empower the 
opponents of change.  The health insurance industry would like nothing better 
than for everyone  to agree with them that it is impossible to pass a public 
option.  That would mean that it would fall off  the agenda – off the menu of 
the possible.  That is exactly what the health insurance industry wants.  
In forty years of fighting for progressive change, I have become more 
convinced by the day that in order to win, you have to believe that you  can. If 
you don’t believe you can win, you won’t win. Optimism that winning is 
possible is not  always sufficient to guarantee success, but without it no 
success is ever  possible.  
There are two other corollaries to this rule.  
First, progressive optimism isn’t  naïve. It understands that you have to 
make change starting from where you are,  not where you wish you were.  You 
have to transform the present into the future.  You have to understand that 
making  change involves the exercise of power, not wishful thinking.  
The health care sector involves one-sixth of the economy.  There are dozens 
of massive vested  interests.  The battle over health  insurance reform is 
not mainly conflict over policies or ideas.  It is mainly a battle over who 
gets how  much money and who gets how much health care. It is a battle of 
vested interests  against the public interest.  
The other side is very powerful.  To win, we have to be tougher, smarter, 
more determined – and believe  absolutely that we can succeed. Cynicism and 
defeatism simply have no place in a  battle like that.  
Second, to win, we cannot allow  ourselves the luxury of being cynical 
about the motivations of our leaders.  When you’ve struggled for years against 
long odds – when you’ve seen lots of  political leaders with weak knees that 
get cozy with every special interest  around – it is easy to fall into the 
trap of mistrusting every political  leader.  It’s easier just to lump  all 
politicians into the same bucket of unprincipled, uncommitted, egotists who  
don’t care about anything but getting their pictures on TV or “being 
important.”  The problem is that it’s not true. 
Before he entered public life, Barack Obama was a community organizer who  
shared a passionate dedication to progressive values. He still  does. 
His Deputy Chief  of Staff, Jim Messina – the man in charge of the 
political campaign to pass  health insurance reform – is as dedicated to serious 
progressive reform of the  health care system as any one else in America. And 
Rahm Emanuel is the perfect  person to use the levers of political power to 
make the President’s progressive  agenda into reality. 
Nancy Pelosi and many in the  House Leadership are dyed-in-the-wool 
Progressives. She is literally working  full time to get the strongest possible 
health care bill out of the House. The  same is true of many members of the 
Senate.  Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  and Majority Whip Dick Durbin 
are completely committed to fundamentally  reforming health care in American 
– including a strong public option.  
Progressives have an enormous domestic agenda:  health insurance reform, 
reform of the  financial sector, creating a clean energy economy, immigration 
reform, labor law  reform – and most importantly, reviving our economy.  To 
win that agenda a unified progressive  community must relentlessly challenge 
entrenched vested interests.   
We have to work together to make sure that as these battles unfold, each  
element of the progressive community is empowered to promote its  priorities. 
 There must plenty of  room for vigorous advocacy and debate.  But there 
must be no room for cynicism. 
Robert Creamer is a long-time  political organizer and strategist, and 
author of the recent book: “Stand Up  Straight: How Progressives Can Win,” 
available on _amazon.com_ 
(http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Your-Mother-Straight-Progressives/dp/0979585295/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206567141&sr=8-1
) . 

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