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On Monday the Progressive Democrats of America held their conference at the Chicago Teachers’ Union hall, where Senator Bernie Sanders would keynote the two-day event, ahead of the official kickoff of the Democratic National Convention.
But the hall remained only half full. So speakers urged attendees to tell their friends to come down to the hall for Sanders’s speech.
It was indicative of setbacks that progressives in the Democratic Party have faced in recent months. While progressives have been thrilled at Harris’s selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former moderate who passed a series of liberal policies, progressives have seen other setbacks.
Earlier this month, Representative Cori Bush of Missouri, a member of the so-called “Squad”, lost her primary thanks to an onslaught of pro-Israel money. This came after Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York, another Squad member, lost his primary in the most expensive primary election in history.
In addition, while Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois, another Squad member, touted Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, Harris has backed away from both of those proposals after she co-sponsored them as a senator.
Representative Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who delivered a barnburner speech at the conference, told The Independent that it was important to get behind candidates who will “save our democracy” and with whom they could organize.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going 100 percent of what we want in the agenda, but we are going to make real progress,” she said.
In the same spirit, progressives have seen their push for a ceasefire in Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas continue to fall flat.
Last month, Michigan Democrats convened a call to endorse Harris. During the call, Abbas Alawieh, a leader of the Uncommitted Movement, tried to speak up and voice his concerns when another delegate reportedly told him to “shut up, a*****.”
The pro-ceasefire advocates held a press conference on Monday and celebrated the fact there would be a panel on Palestine. But they have yet to get two of their major concessions: support for a ceasefire or an arms embargo on Israel.
“This is a question of whether Vice President Harris will take the opportunity to unite our party in a manner that is wildly popular among Democratic voters,” Alawieh told The Independent at the press conference.
“We want to help Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump,” he said.
But Alawieh warned that if they did not get concrete commitments from Harris, that he and his allies will not be able to make an affirmative case to voters in places like Michigan, which has a large Arab-American presence.
“Absent that, we don’t have the credibiity to go back and tell to those voters, and affirmative that embraces Vice President Harris’s plan because we don’t know what her plan is,” he said.
Israel is not the only area where progressives are frustrated with Harris. Since she launched her presidential campaign, she has pledged to sign a bill that would severely restrict immigration and asylum.
Pro-immigrant groups have criticized her embrace of the bill and Democrats’ overall rightward turn on immigration as it remains a point of strength for Republicans and Trump. When Harris spoke in Arizona earlier this year, she said she supported “comprehensive reform” approach to immigration “that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”
Lilian Jiménez, a state representative for Illinois and an immigration lawyer, said she wants Harris to support a humane immigration policy.
“I just say human rights,” she told The Independent. “I want her policies to reflect that we should treat everybody equally. We should give people an opportunity, and we should give people due process and ability to apply for status to stay in this country. And at this point, I don't care what you call it. But let's see some movement on the policy.”
But at the event on Monday, many progressives were celebrating the selection of Walz as Harris’s running mate including activists from Minnesota.
“I was one of the earliest members to come out for Governor Walz,” Jayapal said. “I do think she recognize all the things we all saw in Governor Walz, which is he’s from a red rural district and he’s implemented some of the most progressive policies in the state of Minnesota.”
But there has been steps forward for progressives. On Monday night, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain will address the convention.
Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will address the crowd in Chicago, as well as Representative Jamie Raskin, both of whom voted against giving additional aid to Israel.
And in a sign of the future of the progressive movement, after Sanders left the conference, Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of the House, delivered a speech that got people on their feet.
