These are tough times for center-left parties, which increasingly find themselves squeezed into a shrinking middle ground by populist insurgents on the right and left. Few are rising to the challenge of offering restive voters an inspiring alternative to populist prescriptions for sweeping economic and political change.
That leaves most of the political passion and energy churning on the political extremes. MAGA and the Democratic Socialists of America certainly don’t lack bold ideas for change. Even if they do more harm than good, like President Trump’s inflationary tariffs, or unravel under scrutiny, like progressive proposals to abolish private health insurance and pay for a wide array of so-called free public goods by taxing wealth.
But even if they’re peddling snake oil, right- and left-wing populists have sharply defined beliefs and earn points for strong convictions. The center-left, in contrast, suffers from an identity crisis: Voters have only a fuzzy idea of what it stands for. Worse, working-class voters here and across Europe tend to lump center-left and center-right parties into an out-of-touch political establishment that ignores their struggles and governs on behalf of affluent elites and entrenched interests.
What should center-left parties like the Democrats offer voters? Moderation? Compromise and bipartisanship? Political civility? There’s something to be said for each of these, but they don’t add up to a compelling governing philosophy.
Nor is this a time for policy incrementalism. Working Americans are fed up with economic arrangements they see as deeply unfair, the fracturing of our national identity and civic unity and a sclerotic federal government’s inability to get big things done. They’re looking for structural remedies for structural problems.
Democrats aren’t condemned to vapid centrism. They only need to dust off their own rich legacy of bold and modernizing reform rooted in America’s liberal tradition.
