Down in the polls and facing a difficult midterm election, Democrats must confront the myths that are hindering their attempts to build a broad and durable governing majority, according to a new study released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).
Written by two veteran political scholars, William A. Galston and Elaine Kamarck, the study is entitled The New Politics of Evasion: How Ignoring Swing Voters Could Reopen the Door for Donald Trump and Threaten American Democracy.
“Most Americans want evolutionary, not revolutionary, change,” the authors write in the report. “They want more government in some areas but not all, and within limits. And they want government that respects their commonsense beliefs – for example, that defunding the police is not the path to public safety, abolishing immigration enforcement is not the cure for our southern border, and that it is wrong to exclude parents from decisions about the education of their children.”
Galston and Kamarck’s second edition of The Politics of Evasion comes after their highly influential original analysis, which PPI published in 1989. The stakes are much higher in 2022, as the nation works to rebuild from the pandemic, recover from the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump, and protect our democracy.
“In these extraordinary times, only a Democratic president stands between Trump and the Oval Office. It is the president’s duty to do everything he can to win the 2024 election. There is no greater cause. To do so will require subordinating everything else to this goal — and bringing the Democratic Party along. This will not be easy, but the alternative is defeat — and the further erosion of American democracy,” write Galston and Kamarck.
“The New Politics of Evasion is both a trenchant critique of contemporary myths that hold Democrats back, and a constructive blueprint for the course corrections the party urgently needs to make,” said Will Marshall, President and Founder of the Progressive Policy Institute.
Read and download the report:
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.
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Media Contact: Aaron White; awhite@ppionline.org
