PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Lewis for Progressive Britain: To Win, Harris Will Need to Follow Starmer’s Example

  • July 24, 2024
  • Lindsay Mark Lewis

By Lindsay Mark Lewis

When Democratic primary voters selected Joe Biden to be the Party’s standard bearer in 2020, the faithful made their choice in a very specific context: the Trump administration. Like with Labour facing a Tory government gone off the rails, progressive in the U.S. were determined to nominate a candidate who would appeal to the electorate as a whole—who would, namely, be capable of drawing together the anti-Trump vote. Joe Biden was, without a doubt, perfectly suited to play that role. The man from Scranton—a figure with bipartisan sensibilities rooted in his experience growing up as a working-class kid in Pennsylvania—met the moment and succeeded. He vanquished the incumbent populist.

But then things changed. In an odd twist ostensibly fueled by a moderate’s determination to unite progressives, the man who ran most notably as a beacon of the center chose to govern as a paragon of the left. There’s no mystery to why Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist who competed against Biden in the 2020 primaries, was among the most vociferous figures hoping to keep the incumbent atop the ticket. The rationale was clear: Biden had allowed himself to become a vehicle for Sanders’ leftist agenda. Ironically, it was the party’s centrists, figures who had originally propelled Biden’s candidacy, who now wanted him to exit. They wanted the change not only based on the debate debacle but based on defending an agenda they did not sign up for.

Keep reading in Progressive Britain. 

Related Work

Op-Ed  |  May 28, 2025

Ryan for Newsweek: Trump Policies Hurt Workers in America’s Heartland. Democrats Have to Say So

  • Tim Ryan
Op-Ed  |  May 23, 2025

Kahlenberg for DC Journal: Counterpoint: Young Americans Would Not Rally Around Our Nation, But Don’t Blame Them

  • Richard D. Kahlenberg
Op-Ed  |  May 23, 2025

Marshall for The Hill: Economic Populism From Both Parties Fails Working Americans

  • Will Marshall
Feature  |  May 20, 2025

Ainsley for Re:State: The Case for Remaking the State

  • Claire Ainsley
In the News  |  May 4, 2025

Ainsley in The New York Times: After 100 Years, Britain’s Two-Party Political System May Be Crumbling

  • Claire Ainsley
Op-Ed  |  April 25, 2025

Marshall for The Hill: Flailing Democrats Need to Build Coalitions, Not Primary Their Own Members

  • Will Marshall
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings