issue: Politics

Ainsley for Financial Times: The Bidenomics backlash holds lessons for UK’s Labour party

Posted on by Max Sherrill

By Claire Ainsley

As the Labour party looks increasingly likely to form the next UK government, it would do well to heed the warnings as well as the successes of the Biden administration’s investment programme unfolding in America.

Undoubtedly ambitious, the programme can reasonably claim to have contributed to the relatively strong growth and jobs rate in the US — hence Labour leader Keir Starmer’s desire to set out an economic plan that follows in its wake. Wages are up in America and inflation is coming down. With less than a year until the election, the US administration should have cause for optimism.

But the polling for President Joe Biden is dire, with the latest surveys placing him behind former president Donald Trump in key swing states that will determine the outcome of the overall contest. There are loud murmurings about a Democrat challenger to be the “next generation” figure. The party’s problems don’t start and end with a judgment on Biden, however. Their economic policies — much heralded by the centre-left worldwide, not just in the UK — are just not landing with the voters the Democrats need. Not yet, anyway.

Read more in The Financial Times.

Ainsley for The New Statesman: Labour is breaking with a failed economic consensus

Posted on by Max Sherrill

By Claire Ainsley

The furore over Keir Starmer citing Margaret Thatcher as one of the defining prime ministers of the 20th century has somewhat obscured the question of the “meaningful change” a Labour government would deliver. The purpose of referencing prime ministers who delivered transformative change – whether we agree or disagree with their means and ends – is surely to position the next Labour government in the tradition of great reforming administrations. Ultimately, history will be the judge, but as we look towards a possible Labour government for the first time in 14 years, what meaningful change is the party arguing for?

The scale of the challenge facing Labour is daunting. Only this week, the Resolution Foundation’s Economy 2030 inquiry powerfully demonstrated that the British economy faces continued relative decline unless we urgently correct our course. Some of our malaise dates from the post-financial crisis era and the political and policy choices made in its aftermath, most notably austerity and a botched Brexit. But, depressingly, much of it is attributable to long-running structural weaknesses in the UK economy which predate the 2008 financial crisis, such as the lowest investment in the G7 over the past 40 years and high inequality between people and places.

The consequence of all this is that our middle and lower earners are far worse off than their counterparts in similar-sized economies. As the Resolution Foundation charted, typical households in Britain are 9 per cent poorer than their French equivalents, while low-income families are 27 per cent poorer.

Read more in The New Statesman.

Can Democrats Win Back America’s Working Class? New PPI/YouGov Poll Sheds Light on Key Challenges

Posted on by Max Sherrill

Washington, D.C. — Working Americans believe the last 40 years have not been kind to them. When surveyed in a new poll, a majority of working-class voters believe they are worse off. When asked which President from the past 30 years has done the most for average working families, voters choose Donald Trump by a wide margin (44% to Biden’s 12%). While the result is mainly driven by partisan divides, 51% of independents chose Trump.

Working-class voters are a crucial demographic in competitive districts across the country and Democrats must make further inroads with working-class voters in order to build on recent election victories and assemble a winning coalition for 2024.

Today, the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) Project on Center-Left Renewal released a new poll commissioned by YouGov to help Democrats understand and frame more effective appeals to working-class voters. PPI President Will Marshall provides a summary and analysis of the results in the report “Winning Back Working America: A PPI/YouGov Survey of Working Class Attitudes.”

“In the last century, we’ve seen a populist revolt against dominant political parties rooted in working-class voters’ discontent with sweeping economic and cultural changes. Working Americans believe the last 40 years have been hard for them and do not believe that either party will handle the issues they care most about. Ahead of 2024, Democrats must reconnect with their historical working-class base,” said Will Marshall. “The recent PPI/YouGov poll on working-class Americans can give Democrats a blueprint for winning back working America and offering pragmatic, common-sense solutions to our country’s biggest problems.”

The poll contains two parts: a national survey of 860 non-college voters and oversamples of working-class opinions in seven 2024 presidential or Senate battleground states: Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. The poll surveyed registered voters without a four-year degree (voters with a two-year degree, high school diploma, or less). Results from swing state polls are available upon request.

Key findings from the national poll:

•  Two-thirds of voters say they are worse off and only 21% believe their lives have improved. White non-college voters are especially likely to say things have gotten worse (70%). Pessimism is even higher in many swing states: Arizona (74%), Michigan (74%), and Pennsylvania (75%).

• When presented with a list of reasons why life is harder today, respondents put illegal immigration and automation at the top.

•  When it comes to the economy, voters polled overwhelmingly (69%) name the high cost of living as their top worry. In distant but still significant second place (11%) is the concern that government deficits and debt are too high.

•  When asked why prices have risen so much, 55% of working-class voters picked “government went overboard with stimulus spending, overheating the economy” over the impact of the COVID recession and supply chain bottlenecks as the economy recovered. More than half of voters in each of the swing states agreed.

•  When asked where they think their children will find the best jobs and careers, most voters (44%) chose the communications/digital economy over manufacturing (13%).

•  When asked about student loan forgiveness, 56% of voters (including 59% of Independents) say “paying off this debt is not fair to the majority of Americans who don’t get college degrees…” Democrats were outliers, with only 28% calling loan forgiveness unfair.

•  What the voters do support, enthusiastically and across political fault lines, is “more public investment in apprenticeships and career pathways to help non-college workers acquire better skills” (74%) as well as “affordable, short-term training programs that combine work and learning.”

•  Overall, 41% of voters say climate change is an “existential” problem that demands action, while 34% expressed skepticism. 42% think clean energy incentives will create good jobs and boost the economy, while 37% fear they will raise energy bills and the costs of goods.

•  When asked about education and whom public schools served most, they said political activists (31%), unions (30%) and students (29%), with only 10% choosing parents.

•  When asked on views of the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Amazon and whether or not voters support ending Amazon Prime’s two-day prime shipping, 47% of voters strongly oppose.

•  And when asked about protecting consumer’s personal data, 80% prefer the government to pass a privacy and data security bill and ensure all companies abide by these regulations instead of the 20% of voters who think the government should break up big tech companies.

Read the full poll and analysis here.

In October, PPI released the companion poll in a report from Claire Ainsley, Director of the Center-Left Renewal Project at PPI, titled “Roadmap to Hope: How to Bring Back Hope to Working-Class Voters in an Age of Insecurity” on opinions of the working class in the U.K.

 

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Find an expert at PPI and follow us on Twitter.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org

Winning Back Working America: A PPI/YouGov Survey of Working-Class Attitudes

Posted on by Alyssa Brown
SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS BY WILL MARSHALL

INTRODUCTION

This century has witnessed a populist revolt against long-dominant political parties across the democratic world. It’s rooted in working-class discontent with sweeping economic and cultural changes that have bred a profound sense of social dislocation and insecurity.

This phenomenon challenges governing parties of the left and right. But it poses a special test to the U.S. Democrats and other center-left and progressive parties that have traditionally championed the economic prospects and moral outlook of traditional working people.

The new populists offer working-class voters a refuge in old ideas: ethnic nationalism, nativism and protectionism. Conservative parties have tried to compete by co-opting these themes. Liberal and progressive parties have deplored the populists’ illiberal and antidemocratic tendencies while failing to grasp their valid concerns and fears of not being heard.

The Progressive Policy Institute believes America and other liberal democracies need a reinvigorated center-left to turn back the tide of reactionary nationalism that has swept much of the world over the past decade. In January 2023, we launched a new Center-Left Renewal Project headed by Claire Ainsley, formerly a top policy advisor to UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.

As it happens, both Labour and the Democrats face crucial national elections next year. While allowing for significant differences in political structure and culture, reconnecting with their historical working-class base is an electoral and moral imperative for both parties.

To help them frame more effective appeals to working-class voters (broadly defined as those without four-year college degrees) the Project commissioned from YouGov public opinion surveys in the United Kingdom and the United States. The former is found in Claire Ainsley’s report, Roadmap to Hope, which was released in October at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

This U.S.-focused companion report, Winning Back Working America, has two parts: a national survey of 860 non-college voters and oversamples of working-class opinion in seven 2024 presidential or Senate battleground states: Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada. The interviews were conducted between Oct. 17 and Nov. 6.

Here are some of the key findings of our poll, followed by the national sample. The state oversamples and crosstabs are available on request.

READ THE POLL RESULTS.

 

Another Cycle, Another Win for Reproductive Rights

Posted on by Max Sherrill

Yesterday marked yet another election cycle in which voters rejected Republicans’ ongoing attempt to limit abortions and restrict reproductive care. Republicans continue to lose ground on this issue, even on their own red state turf. Every time abortion rights are put to a popular vote, they win and right-wing abolitionists lose.

The truth is that Americans are supporting abortion access at higher percentages than before the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. A 59% majority say they still oppose the justices’ decision. The results this cycle again confirmed broad public support for abortion access across the country and misgivings about the Supreme Court’s disruptive decision:

• Ohio voters came out in droves to enshrine abortion protections into their state constitution, preventing a dangerous six-week abortion ban (including no exceptions for rape or incest) from going back into effect after being blocked by the courts for over a year. The amendment to the state’s constitution got 56.6% of the vote.

• Virginia voters didn’t buy the Republicans messaging on a 15-week abortion ban as a “moderate” and “reasonable compromise” and voted to keep the Democratic majority in the Senate and flip the House, preventing Governor Youngkin from implementing the ban with a Republican majority. This also leaves Virginia as the southernmost state without a post-Roe change to abortion access.

• Despite the race not determining the majority in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, voters showed strong support for the pro-choice Democrat, ensuring the Court will continue to protect reproductive access in the state.

• Finally, in deep-red Kentucky, voters also backed Democratic candidates for both Governor and Attorney General who promised to support abortion rights.

This all comes at the heels of last year, where ballot measures in six states, the most on record for a single year, resulted in wins for abortion rights, including in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. Next year, 11 more states could also face ballot measures related to abortion access, including in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.

If the results of these races have been any indication of what messaging voters resonate with and the issues that matter most to them, it’s abundantly clear that ensuring abortion access remains a top concern. Voters see right through the thin veil of the Republican abortion agenda and clearly see their attacks on Democracy and on reproductive rights: They will go to any length to interfere in their ability to decide how and when to plan for their families.

At a time when maternal and infant mortality is skyrocketing in mostly red states, and pregnant women are being forced to sit in hospital parking lots until they are sepsis to receive care because of draconian abortion restrictions in red states, Americans’ health fares far worse at the helm of Republican leadership. Voters continue to see and are experiencing the harmful effects of the latest abortion restrictions post-Roe and show up time and again to refute the radical, toxic Republican abortion and reproductive health agenda.

Last night’s results demonstrate again that the majority of American voters are with the Democrats on reproductive rights. The party should center the abortion issue in next year’s national elections as well as state legislative contests. Democrats have an opportunity to connect with independent and moderate Republican voters who don’t want to see their personal liberties stripped away.

Marshall for the Hill: It’s official: House Republicans put Trump first, not America

Posted on by Max Sherrill

By Will Marshall

By installing Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), an ardent 2020 election denier, as Speaker without a single dissenting vote, House Republicans have erased any doubts about where their true loyalties lie.

Forget about “America First.” House Republicans have put Donald Trump first, abjectly surrendering to his seditious campaign to undermine Americans’ confidence in their democratic institutions.

That’s sparked the retirement of Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who warned his colleagues that Trump’s lies and lawlessness will lead Republicans to defeat again in next year’s presidential contest.

Unlike members of the Freedom Caucus, the new Speaker ostensibly is a nice guy. A change in tone is welcome, but it won’t mean much so long as GOP leaders remain mesmerized by Trump, either because they adore him or are terrified that he’ll urge his followers to turn them out of office.

Read more in The Hill

PPI Statement on Hamas Terrorism

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Today, Will Marshall, President of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released the following statement in response to this weekend’s heinous attack on Israel and the Israeli people.

“The more we learn about Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of civilians in Israel, the more civilized people everywhere should resolve to reject the sickening moral equivocations voiced by apologists for Palestinian terrorists. No cause on earth justifies the orgy of sadism, rape, and mass murder we have just witnessed. And let us have an end to evasive euphemisms like ‘militant’ — the perpetrators of this crime against humanity are terrorists and should be so named and treated.

“We are grateful to President Biden for forcefully condemning Hamas’s depraved violence and pledging America’s steadfast support for the Israeli people at this terrible moment. The contrast between Biden’s moral clarity and unifying leadership and Donald Trump’s dishonest attempts to divide our country by politicizing the tragedy in Israel could not be more telling.

“Israeli forces are now trying to rescue hostages, bring terrorists to justice, and degrade Hamas’s ability to launch further outrages. This is a monumental task made more difficult by Hamas’s cynical tactic of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, which is yet another war crime. It’s imperative that Israeli forces proceed both resolutely and carefully, demonstrating the humanity and respect for innocent lives that their terrorist attackers lack. We see no military justification for depriving Gaza residents of food and fuel.

“The Progressive Policy Institute stands with Israel, and endorses the bipartisan congressional resolution, signed by over 400 Members of Congress, supporting Israel and outrightly condemning the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas against Israeli civilians.

“Standing with Israel against terrorism in no way implies support for Israeli government policies. Indeed, we are concerned by the authoritarian drift of recent Israeli politics. But there will be ample time and occasion to debate these matters once the immediate crisis has passed.”

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

Working-class voters abandon Sunak’s Conservatives ahead of next election

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

The Conservative Party is haemorrhaging working-class votes across the country under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, particularly those of working age, with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on course to reverse its historic decline with working-class voters.

New research released by the Progressive Policy Institute on the eve of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool shows that the voters that were so crucial to the Conservatives’ majority at the 2019 general election are abandoning the party. Only 44% of working-class voters who voted Conservative in 2019 say they will vote for them next time. 74% of all those polled describe the Conservatives as not close to working-class people, strongly associating them with wealthy individuals and big business.

Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is on course to turn around its historic decline amongst working-class voters – but Labour’s lead is much narrower with working-class voters than the wider electorate, with many yet to make up their minds on who to vote for. The research reveals that those who are feeling more optimistic about the year ahead are more likely to vote Conservative; however, there are far fewer of them than those who are pessimistic about the year ahead. Overall, working-class Britons believe almost everything is going to get worse, including all of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledges: the rate of inflation, the cost of living, NHS waiting lists, climate change, their personal financial situation, the number of people arriving in small boats, the level of national debt, and the country’s financial situation.

In the report, ‘Roadmap to Hope: how to bring hope back to working-class voters in an age of insecurity’, project director and former policy director to Keir Starmer, Claire Ainsley, argues that Labour must redouble its efforts to reach disaffected working-class voters as it eyes a general election campaign, with concrete plans to ‘remake the deal’ for working people.

The report includes exclusive comparative analysis of the electoral coalitions of centre-left parties around the world by Professor Oliver Heath for PPI, which shows that far from the base of social democratic parties moving uniformly to middle-upper earners, those on low to middle incomes still form the social base for winning centre-left parties. The UK Labour Party has a particular challenge to attract older voters, compared to its centre-left contemporary parties around the world.

Overall economic concerns and policies to address them, such as controlling energy bills and inflation, are much more important to working-class voters than cultural issues that have gained disproportionate media attention. However, tackling illegal immigration and crime are highly salient for working-class voters. 59% tended to agree that you get less in return for working hard than you did a decade ago, compared to 12% who said you get more in return.

‘Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is on course to win over working-class voters who have been so failed by the Conservatives. They are feeling pretty pessimistic about the future, so the task for Labour is to inspire hope and belief that the deal can be re-made whereby if you work hard, you get on. That rests on offering concrete plans to improve people’s security and their prospects, and restore a sense of basic fairness to the economy and society’, said Claire Ainsley, Director of PPI’s Centre-Left Renewal Project.

The report includes PPI’s practical ideas to ‘re-make the deal’ for working people:

1.  Relentless focus on raising wages for those on low to middle incomes.
2. Stabilise supply and costs of essential goods and services.
3. Open up housing investment to the next generation.
4. Reform school education to become the driver of progress.
5. Replace ‘one rule for them’ with ‘same rules apply’.

More working-class voters said the government is not doing or spending enough to try and reduce carbon emissions (34%), compared to those saying they are doing too much (25%), or getting the balance about right (16%), showing the awareness of climate action across all social groups. That said, they have a clear view when it comes to who pays: 53% agreed that it is important to combat climate change but ‘people like me should not be paying the cost of policies to reduce global carbon emissions’, whilst 16% said they would be prepared to pay some costs and 19% said they do not believe climate action is necessary.

 

PPI’s new Project on Centre-Left Renewal resumes our long-running conversation with centre-left parties in Europe and around the world. Its purpose is to exchange ideas, strategies and tactics for making centre-left parties more competitive and improve their governing performance.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

Roadmap to Hope: How to bring back hope to working-class voters in an age of insecurity

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

INTRODUCTION

For many people, the economic and political turbulence of these past few years have made it a whole lot harder to achieve their hopes and dreams.

Every time inflation rises or mortgage costs escalate, the choices available get much more limited. Whether it’s buying a new home, retraining for a job you really want, or booking the holiday you’ve worked so hard for. The deal whereby if you work hard and do the right thing, you can achieve what you set out to, seems broken through a combination of failing markets, creaking public services, and politics unable to rise to the challenges of our times. This sense of insecurity – not knowing what the future holds – now seems semi-permanent.

This deeper-rooted belief that our governments don’t work in the interests of ordinary people has fuelled the rise of right-wing populism in many of our nations, which despite some recent success of centre-left parties, continues to gain ground. Even where right-wing populists remain at the margins, their effect on mainstream politics and society is being felt. And where the centre-left has won power, it is proving difficult to achieve more durable electoral majorities amongst a fragmented electorate, under siege from the scare tactics of the right.

The only way out of this is for the political centre-left to present and deliver a more unifying, compelling, and credible alternative to the extremities and their mainstream copyists, rooted in the hopes and dreams of ordinary people.

In January 2023, the Progressive Policy Institute launched a new project on the political renewal of the global centre-left. This report shares comparative analysis of centre-left voters, and how electoral strategies can build more sustainable coalitions.

The politics of a winning centre-left isn’t the triumph of reassurance over hope; it is reassurance so that people can realise their hopes and dreams again. The centre-left needs to reclaim hope and aspiration as well as offering security and reassurance, and in so doing, bring hope back to the many millions who deserve to have their faith restored.

Voters in the UK and beyond are looking again at what centre-left parties have to offer. But progress will only turn into lasting success if once in government, our parties are judged by voters to have met their economic, social and cultural needs and interests. This report, and PPI’s work, is in service of that goal.

Read the full report.

Marshall for The Hill: For victory in 2024, Democrats must win back the working class

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Will Marshall

A spate of recent polls showing President Biden either tied with or falling behind Donald Trump has some Democrats in a swivet. How could Biden be trailing a fabulist he’s already beaten, who’s facing 91 felony charges, and whose business empire may be crumbling around him?

It’s a good question. Today’s polls aren’t predictive of an election that’s more than a year out. But they are indicative of how little headway the president and his party have made since 2020 on their central political challenge: enlarging their party by winning back working class voters.

Luckily for them, a lifetime of deceit continues to catch up with Trump. A New York Supreme Court justice has ruled that his real estate companies defrauded banks and insurance companies by ludicrously overstating their properties’ value. The judge yanked their licenses to do business in New York and said he’d appoint a receiver to dismantle them.

Read more in The Hill.

Ainsley for The Guardian: A centrist Labour is back. But this time it cannot take the working class for granted

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Claire Ainsley

Keir Starmer promised he would turn the Labour party around and give it back to the British people. Three years on from becoming leader, he can credibly claim to have done just that. Research released today by YouGov for WPI Strategy shows that Starmer’s Labour is closer to the public on the issues that matter most to them – and voters perceive the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak as being well to the political right of the British people.

Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of 10 on a scale where 0 was leftwing and 10 was rightwing. They placed Keir Starmer as 3.9 on the same scale, Sunak on 7.3, and their parties not far behind with Labour on 3.3 and the Conservatives on 7.6.

Elections are fought and won in the centre ground of British politics. For an often quoted iron law of politics, it’s surprising how frequently it is forgotten by parties that dream of voters moving to them, rather than the parties themselves moving closer to voters.

The Labour party is as guilty as anyone of indulging in this myth. It has only been in power for 30 of its 120 years in existence, with more of its time spent unable to do anything for the people it was formed to represent. Yet in 2023, likely the year before a general election, it is the Conservatives who find themselves adrift from voters. YouGov’s research shows Labour beating the Conservatives in every age category under 65, and in every region and nation. More than half say they will definitely not vote Conservative next time.

Read more in The Guardian.

Marshall for The Hill: Trump won’t let America move on from his 2020 false reality show

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

By Will Marshall

Elections are about the future, not the past, as the old cliché has it. But as the 2024 presidential campaign gets underway, U.S. voters can’t seem to escape the noxious aftermath of the 2020 election.

Many would like to move on, but Donald Trump won’t let them. He wants to rerun the 2020 contest next year, only this time with him winning. Complicating his improbable bid is the belated legal reckoning he and his lackeys now face for scheming to steal the last election.

Keep reading in The Hill.

PPI Statement on the Anniversary of the Supreme Court Overturning Roe v. Wade

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

Erin Delaney, Director of Health Care Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), released the following statement ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Dobbs decision:

“Marking this tragic anniversary would not be necessary if not for the relentless mobilization of Republican extremists to curtail access to abortion and reproductive freedom.

“Forcing abortion bans against the wishes of the majority of Americans chips away at the foundation of democracy. As the Democratic Party continues to fight for federal protections, they must also turn their focus to state legislatures. Democrats must win back seats and expand their majorities by appealing to Independent and Republican voters who don’t want to see their personal liberties stripped away.

“PPI will continue to fight against far-right extremism, defend abortion rights and work to expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care for all Americans.”

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org

Marshall for The Hill: Democrats should junk the primaries: Here’s why

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Will Marshall

After one presidential defeat, two impeachments, two criminal indictments and, possibly, two more to come, Donald Trump has learned nothing. He still insists he won the 2020 election – by a landslide – and that he’s the victim of a vast deep-state conspiracy bent on his destruction.

It’s hard to believe: A plainly delusional 77-year old is making a third run for the White House on an explicit platform of wreaking revenge on his political enemies. Yet somehow he’s outpacing his saner Republican rivals and, in some polls, is even with President Joe Biden.

This is nuts, and it poses a riddle for Biden and the Democrats: Why aren’t they 20 points ahead? Why can’t they rally a solid majority of Americans to protect our constitutional democracy against an incendiary demagogue?

Part of the answer lies in Trump’s hold on white working-class voters, who believe he’s fighting to preserve their idea of America. Another is found in Democrats’ leftward march over the past two decades, which has made it hard for them to win across America’s pragmatic center.

Keep reading in The Hill.

PPI Announces Hiring of Mitchell Taylor as Congressional Policy Fellow, Supporting the Blue Dog Coalition

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) announced that Mitchell Taylor has been hired as a Congressional Policy Fellow to support the Blue Dog Coalition. Taylor will be placed in the office of Congresswoman Mary Peltola (AK-AL), the recently named Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chair for Policy and Legislative Strategy, and will provide critical policy, communications, and administrative support for the 10-member coalition.

The Blue Dog Coalition is led by Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02), Co-Chair for Administration, and Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Co-Chair for Communications and Outreach, in addition to Congresswoman Peltola. Together, these Democrats represent the three most GOP-leaning districts in the House Democratic caucus.

“I am excited to join the Blue Dog team and look forward to helping its members advance common sense policy solutions,” said Mitchell Taylor. “After starting my career working in the Senate, this PPI fellowship opportunity will allow me to take on an expanded policy portfolio in the House and provide support to this exciting group of members who are committed to breaking gridlock and getting things done.”

Prior to joining the Blue Dog Coalition as a PPI Congressional Policy Fellow, Taylor worked in the office of U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R‑KS). Taylor is also a member of the DC New Liberals, a local chapter of the Center for New Liberalism, a grassroots organization fighting for center-left, pragmatic policies.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives comprised of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find common sense solutions. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people. Learn more about the Blue Dogs by visiting https://bluedogcaucus-golden.house.gov/.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

PPI Urges Congress to Swiftly Pass President Biden’s Debt Ceiling Compromise

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Ben Ritz, Director of the Progressive Policy Institute’s Center for Funding America’s Future, released the following statement on the reported agreement-in-principle to raise the debt ceiling:

“Congress should immediately pass the debt limit increase and budget compromise negotiated by President Biden and Speaker McCarthy.

“On the one hand, this package does not represent our ideal policy. The decision to freeze spending only on domestic discretionary programs is backwards. This part of the budget funds critical long-term public investments in infrastructure, education, and scientific research. Meanwhile, taking both increased revenues and any cuts to other programs that comprise 85% of non-interest spending off the table in negotiations leaves our budget on a clearly unsustainable path. It is, at best, a punt on tackling our fiscal challenges.

“But on the other hand, this compromise is currently the only plausible way to take the threat of defaulting on the national debt off the table for the remainder of President Biden’s first term. Congress must pass it now, and in the future, lawmakers should seek out a better mechanism for encouraging fiscal discipline without calling into question our government’s constitutional obligation to repay its debts.”

PPI has consistently condemned the GOP’s efforts to take the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to extract ideological policy concessions. It has also supported the bipartisan Responsible Budgeting Act to end debt limit brinkmanship and create more sensible mechanisms for encouraging fiscal discipline.

PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future works to promote a fiscally responsible public investment agenda that fosters robust and inclusive economic growth. It tackles issues of public finance in the United States and offers innovative proposals to strengthen public investments in the foundation of our economy, modernize health and retirement programs to reflect an aging society, and transform our tax code to reward work over wealth.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org