Remembering RFK: 40 Years Later
The Glaser Progress Foundation
A tribute to a true progressive, tragically silenced forty years ago this week.
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Who Are They Calling Elitist?
Eric Alterman : Conservatives & The American Right
Why do conservatives continue to feel oppressed by the "liberal elite"?
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Progressives for Obama
Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher Jr., Danny Glover & Barbara Ehrenreich : Barack Obama
The future has arrived: progressives can make a difference to ensure Barack Obama is our next President.
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Beyond the New Deal
Howard Zinn : Cultural Criticism & Analysis
How refreshing it would be if a presidential candidate reminded us of the experience of the New Deal.
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FDR's Democratic Propaganda
Stephen Duncombe : Cultural Criticism & Analysis
Today's progressive message-makers can learn a lot from Franklin Roosevelt's homey "fireside chats."
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Democratizing Capital
Sherle R. Schwenninger : Globalization
New Deal progressives believed the economy should exist to serve society, not the other way around.
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Potent Publics
Anna Deavere Smith : Cultural Criticism & Analysis
The US public is wonderfully diverse, but the arts are not equally accessible to all.
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For the 'FDR'
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson : Jesse Jackson
The Bush Administration's solutions for the subprime mortgage crisis are too little, too late. Americans need a New Deal-style agency to manage domestic reconstruction.
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Race and the New Deal Coalition
Adolph Reed Jr. : African-Americans
Most New Deal programs were anything but race- and gender-neutral in their impact. They were both racially discrminatory and a boon to many black Americans.
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The Only Fitting Tribute
Frances Moore Lappé : Economic Policy
For Roosevelt, the New Deal was a way of advancing freedom, which depended on economic as much as political rights.
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The Bare Minimum
Eric Schlosser : Wages & Hours
Today's relentless arguments against a higher minimum wage suggest that Roosevelt's battle is not yet won.
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A Chaos of Experimentation
Andrea Batista Schlesinger : U.S. Economy
The New Deal spirit of "persistent experimentation" yielded impressive results for the country. American leaders can recapture that spirit.
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A Green Corps
Bill McKibben : Environment
The New Deal brought with it programs that served not only the good of the people and the economy but also the environment. We need that now more than ever.
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Why the New Deal Matters
Richard Parker : History
What was it about the New Deal and Roosevelt that make the man and the era relevant today?
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Toward a New New Deal (Forum)
The Editors : History
To commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the New Deal, The Nation invited a panel of activists, writers, scholars and artists to reflect on its lasting lessons.
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Transforming the Liberal Checklist
Eric Schneiderman
It's time for progressives to demand a bolder, "transformational" politics.
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Raise the Bar
Laura Flanders : Democratic Party
Grassroots Democrats, parched for their party's attention, should play hardball with candidates on Iraq.
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MoveOn Weighs Dem Endorsements
Ari Melber : Presidential Election 2008
The netroots powerhouse is surveying its members on whom to support. It's a test of the candidates and of the progressive movement.
2007
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Heartland Forum Tackles the Real Issues
Christopher Hayes : Media Analysis
Pushing past TV's divisive debate format, a unusual forum in Iowa Saturday pushed Democratic candidates to really explain where they stand on pollution, immigration and predatory lending.
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How the Peace Movement Can Win
For war opponents, the election year is a moment of great opportunity--and peril. The challenge is to leverage antiwar sentiment into a victory for peace.
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Deal Breakers
Kim Phillips-Fein : Economic Policy
Two new books seek to galvanize progressives at a key political moment: Paul Krugman's The Conscience of a Liberal and Jonathan Chait's The Big Con.
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Will the Real Generation Obama Please Stand Up?
Lakshmi Chaudhry : Electoral Politics
The cranky, quirky and sometimes progressive politics practiced by a generation once considered slackers could be a deciding factor in this presidential election.
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Executive Excess on Capitol Hill
Charlie Cray & Christopher Hayes : Congress
Faced with a no-brainer fix to close a tax loophole, Senate Democrats are dithering, caught between the interests of their donors and their voters.
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Cracking the Code
Thom Hartmann : Conservatives & The American Right
How can the left be as adept as the right-wing spin machine at communicating its political agenda? Learn how to use the tools.
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Shanker Blows Up the World
The life and legacy of a fiery New York teachers' advocate gets caught in the crossfire of a changing liberal landscape.
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Al Franken Seeks the Wellstone Seat
Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken has won wide support among voters--and conservatives are getting scared.
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Father of History
Christopher Phelps : Labor Organizing & Activism
Bettina Aptheker's recent memoir has incited fierce debate over her father s legacy.
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Class Acts
The left's literary canon has neglected the contributions less-celebrated writers have made to the political significance of literature.
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Progressive Jews Organize
Peter Dreier & Daniel May : Judaism & Jews
A new wave of grassroots Jewish activism is emerging around issues like housing, healthcare and education.
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Al Franken's Rising Fortunes
Jon Wiener : Legislative Campaigns & Elections
It's early in the game, but his bid to unseat Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman is gaining strength.
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Support Their Troops?
Alexander Cockburn : Peace Activism
If the American people are largely against the war, what's the matter with the antiwar movement? The answer lies with what has happened over the years to the American left.
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OpenLeft Aims to Open Doors in DC
Ari Melber : Internet & New Media
Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers and Mike Lux have launched a new website designed link progressive outsiders with DC insiders.
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An Even Newer Left
The US Social Forum in Atlanta drew visionaries and veterans--of war and social movements--to chart a course for progressives.
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Get in It to Win It
Front-loaded primaries and a volatile '08 race are creating unprecedented opportunities for progressives. They'll gain traction only if they form a smart, tech-savvy and cohesive movement.
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Will the Progressive Majority Emerge?
Rick Perlstein : Voters & Voting
New polling data shows that the majority of Americans are leaning liberal. How long will it take politicians and the media to get that?
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The Honeymoon Is Over
: Congress
Democrats in Congress failed to deliver on their promises, and for progressives that means there's a lot more work to do.
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The New SDS
Christopher Phelps : Student Movements
Can the new Students for a Democratic Society avoid the internal conflicts that plagued the original group?
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Molly, in Her Own Words
From the pages of The Nation, here's a sampler of Molly Ivins at her best.
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Only Words
Christopher Hayes : Internet & New Media
Now that Democrats have real power, netroots progressives need to choose their issues--and their tactics.
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Ayatollah D'Souza
Katha Pollitt : Conservatives & The American Right
Dinesh D'Souza revs up the Republican base with a book arguing that lifestyles of the decadent left triggered Muslim anger that led to 9/11.
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ACLU v. ACLU
Scott Sherman : Civil Rights & Liberties
The civil liberties organization is engulfed in a tumultuous family feud over its controversial leader.
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The Work Cut Out for Us
George Scialabba : Democratic Party
Eight books explore the right-wing assault on American politics and chart a course for a Democratic resurgence.
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Oversight Returns
A Congress that takes the Constitution seriously can force the White House to do the same.
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Ten Blockbuster Hearings
Tell us how progressives in Congress can promote bold new initiatives, end an illegal war and call an abusive President to account.
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Top 10 for a More Perfect Union
Katrina vanden Heuvel : Congress
Ten good bills await passage that could make a real difference.
2006
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The Other Rocky
Sasha Abramsky : Electoral Politics
While most politicians win by appealing to the lowest common denominator, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson takes a decidedly higher road.
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Their Opportunism, Our Opportunity
Gary Younge : Electoral Politics
Mainstream media have transformed the permanent presidential campaign into a never-ending soap opera. Progressives must create the movements that will influence whoever decides to run.
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Watershed
William Greider : Electoral Politics
It's time for Democrats to break out of their risk-averse habits and blaze a new trail--if they can only remember how.
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Obama: Black Like Me
Gary Younge : African-Americans
Barack Obama has fallen prey to the soft bigotry of unreasonable expectations from both the right and left.
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Big $$ for Progressive Politics
The Democracy Alliance is taking a page from the conservative Republican playbook by funding ideas instead of candidates. If only its leaders could agree on what those ideas are.
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Dorothy Healey
An appreciation of one of the last members of the left's "greatest generation," known for her physical courage, warmth and intelligence, who spent a lifetime arguing eloquently for socialism, feminism and peace.
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Dorothy Healey
An appreciation of one of the last members of the left's "greatest generation," known for her physical courage, warmth and intelligence, who spent a lifetime arguing eloquently for socialism, feminism and peace.
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The Left Gets Real
Eyal Press : US Foreign Policy
Is the coziness of progressives and foreign policy realists a strategic alliance or a sign that the conservative co-optation of "human rights" has disillusioned the left?
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Rage Against the MSMachine
Lakshmi Chaudhry : Internet & New Media
The Yearly Kos Convention revealed a blogosphere whose media critique is hampered by its political ambitions. Why can't progressives repair the press, not dismantle it?
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Green Grows Grassroots
Mark Hertsgaard : Environmental Activism
In the Bush era, the green movement has become a paper tiger. It must regroup, reframe and reach out across the lines of race and class that have kept environmental issues at the political fringe.
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A Politics of the Common Good
Katrina vanden Heuvel : Spoken Word
A movement is growing that aims to build a politics of decency and sanity, which speaks to the generosity of the American people. It's not going to be easy, but it's time to rock the boat.
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The American Political Tradition
Andrew J. Bacevich : Non-Fiction
American foreign policy is shaped by a myth of national righteousness. In two new books, Peter Beinart abuses history to suggest liberals embrace this myth, while Stephen Kinzer uses America's history of involvement in foreign coups to reveal why we cannot.
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The Future Is Now
American politics is on the brink of momentous change. A deep shift in priorities and a surge of new ideas can lead to a new governing order grounded in a determination to give people back their future.
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Mr. Obama Goes to Washington
Barack Obama talks a great progressive game. But his record so far shows he has a proven ability to mix charisma with deference to the establishment.
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How to Build a Farm Team
The grassroots organization Progressive Majority has a modest ambition: Take over state and national politics by 2010. Welcome to the left-wing conspiracy.
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The Turning?
Given the scope of conservative ruin, how do progressives seize the day? Start by challenging entrenched interests and ideology, and support candidates and causes while curbing the interests of big money.
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Progressive Values 101
Bernie Horn : Campaigns & Elections
In order to reclaim "values" from the right wing, progressives must frame the electoral debate in terms everyone can support: freedom, opportunity, security and responsibility.
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Three Liberal Lives
In praise of three giants of American liberalism: John Kenneth Galbraith, Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg and the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr.
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J.K. Galbraith and the Forks in the Road
Alexander Cockburn : U.S. Economy
While John Kenneth Galbraith was good at pointing out the failures of the free enterprise system, he could never overcome the play-to-win mentality of American capitalism.
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Taking Back the Faith
Where are the progressive religious leaders who can fill the shoes of William Sloane Coffin?
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Bringing God Into It
Rabbi Michael Lerner : Religion
The secular left consistently disarms itself of what could be its most powerful weapon against the religious right: a spiritual vision of the world.
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Looking for Salvation in All the Wrong Places
Progressive religious leaders should be sensitive to the danger that unexamined God-based public policy presents, whether it comes from the right or the left.
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Pledging Allegiance
Todd Gitlin uses patriotism to wallop the radical left in The Intellectuals and the Flag.
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The New Face of the Campus Left
Sam Graham-Felsen : Student Movements
Since the 1970s Republican conservatives have been the dominant political force on American campuses. But groups like Campus Progress, better groomed and better organized than their predecessors, are pushing back.
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Rocking the House
The time is ripe for progressives to revitalize the state of our union: Americans are ready to undo the damage of the Bush era and turn to a just and peaceful future.
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Jack Gordon
Jack Gordon, "the unabashedly liberal conscience of Florida's State Senate," was chosen majority leader at a time when his politics should have made him an anathema. His fight against discrimination and his involvement in state politics helped many powerless Floridians.
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A 'Top Ten' List of Bold Ideas
Gar Alperovitz & Thad Williamson : Children & Child Care
To take back the nation in the post-Bush era, start thinking now about some bold but plausible progressive reforms, from universal health insurance to free daycare and a shorter work week.
2005
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Rebels
William Greider : Electoral Politics
With persistence and strong convictions, insurgents can change a political party. Galvanized by the war and disgusted with weak-spined party leaders, rank-and-file Democrats may at last be ready to bite back.
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A Year of Sweet Victories
Katrina vanden Heuvel & Sam Graham-Felsen : Activism & Organizing
Among the sweetest victories of 2005: Social Security reform has been blocked, pressure to withdraw from Iraq is growing and progressive activists are making progress on local, state and national issues.
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Anatomy of a Victory
George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security is dead, thanks to a remarkable mobilization by progressive groups. Much can be learned from the way The Campaign for America's Future, labor unions, MoveOn.org and others worked together to inform citizens and arouse opposition to the plan.
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Can the Democrats Win the Ground War at Home?
Christopher Hayes : Democratic Party
Progressive groups that mobilized for the 2004 elections are now dismissed as failures. But though they were unable to defeat Bush, grassroots activists are creating waves across the country. They may be the ticket to Republican defeat and the creation of a new movement.
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Cornbread and Roses
With his campaign to eradicate poverty in America, John Edwards has shed his Clinton Lite image. But to truly redefine the Democratic party and win the 2008 presidency, he has a long way to go.
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Can We Talk?
Eric Alterman : Democratic Party
Liberals need to find a means to bridge the gap between Americans' belief in liberal solutions and their willingness to trust liberals to enact them.
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Minority/Majority
The attempt to fashion a distinct Democratic identity was temporarily halted when Elaine Kamarck and William Galston published a self-serving call for Democrats to move to the "center." But nearly every Senate Democrat voted for a raise in the minimum wage, a clear move exclusive to the party.
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The War of the Liberals
Power and the Idealists clings to the notion that the Iraq War was waged for humanitarian ideals, while At the Point of a Gun documents the inner torment of humanitarian interventionists who, without forgetting Rwanda and Bosnia, have gazed into the Iraqi abyss.
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Kaine Country
It's a tight race, but if Tim Kaine becomes the next governor of Virginia, Democrats gain what they desperately need to win back Congress: a big win in a Southern state.
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Wrong About the Right
Jean Hardisty & Deepak Bhargava : Voters & Voting
Progressives lack a common set of that tie a movement together. But they can build on conservatives' proven strategy of slowly creating a broad consensus.
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Corrupt, Incompetent and 'Off Center'
Eric Alterman : Media Analysis
With leading Republicans facing the slammer and Bush in a tailspin, fate has given liberals a huge opportunity. Americans already share our values--we need a new language to help connect peoples' deepest needs to the liberal vision.
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Spreading the Dough
Ruth Conniff : Campaign Finance
How can the left build a new majority? EMILY's List has a big piece of the answer.
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A *Real* Contract With America
Robert L. Borosage : Conservatives & The American Right
The Gulf Coast hurricanes could dislodge decades-long conservative domination of US politics, but only if Democrats offer an alternative vision of government and society to voters.
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Winning the Peace
John Nichols : Democratic Party
Antiwar Democrats in Washington are facing a moment of truth: Now is the time to raise the volume on the previously taboo discussion of a real exit strategy from Iraq.
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A 'New' New Deal
William Greider : Conservatives & The American Right
The reconstruction of New Orleans could set the stage for a comprehensive legislative initiative akin to the New Deal.
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The Fear of the Liberals
How could liberals believe the most reactionary President since William McKinley could and would export democracy to Iraq?
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The Resurgence of Movement Politics
David Sirota : Campaigns & Elections
It's time for progressives to stop acting like losers and learn how to beat conservatives at their own game.
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The 'Stricken' President: When Down Is Up
Alexander Cockburn : George W. Bush
Bush may be falling in the polls, but his political agenda is flourishing.
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The Times, It Is A-Ragin'
Eric Alterman : Media Analysis
Even so-called liberal publications frequently tilt rightward.
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Reconnecting to the World
Sherle R. Schwenninger : US Foreign Policy
The US must make full employment and ample demand the guiding principles of its international economic policy.
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If the Frame Fits...
Katha Pollitt : Reproductive Rights
Reframing abortion takes the issue out of its real-life context, which is the experience of women.
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Cities: The Vital Core
Urban centers are by their nature spawning grounds of progressive politics.
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Progressive City Leaders
Some progressive municipal officials have jumped beyond the boundaries of their communities to address state and national issues.
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Amy Goodman's 'Empire'
Lizzy Ratner : Alternative & Independent Media
A profile of the dynamic host of Democracy Now!
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Calling Air America
Launched last year on a wing and a prayer, it's still aloft and gaining altitude.
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Progressives and Labor
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Andy Stern and Peter Kwong discuss how to bring about a new New Deal.
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Security the Progressive Way
John Tirman : War on Terrorism
The lockdown strategy has made America less safe. there's a better approach.
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When Liberals Collide
Marc Cooper : Democratic Party
The Los Angeles mayoral race raises difficult questions for progressives.
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The Boxer Rebellion
Her votes thrilled supporters and put some backbone into Senate Democrats.
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The New Colossus
William Greider : Corporate Responsibility & Accountability
Why public pension funds might be the real progressive power.
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Taking the Offensive on Wealth
Gar Alperovitz : Gap Between Wealth & Poverty
Strategies that unite the vast majority against a tiny elite are sure to win.
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Visualizing a Neo-Rainbow
Danny Glover & Bill Fletcher Jr. : African-Americans
History holds clues to a winning electoral strategy for progressives.
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Turning Up the Heat on Bush
Robert L. Borosage : Democratic Party
Activists are pushing hard from below.
2004
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
Various Contributors : Democratic Party
A forum with Noam Chomsky, Mary Robinson, Mary Gordon, Eric Foner, Van Jones and many others.
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Progressives: Get Ready to Fight
Robert L. Borosage & Katrina vanden Heuvel : Democratic Party
Applying the lessons of 2004.
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Bush Bashers & the Bashers Who Bash Them
Katha Pollitt : Media Analysis
It's a stretch to suggest that the anti-Bush advocates are the lefty equivalent of the hard-right disinformation machine.
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Devolve This!
Joel Rogers : Electoral Politics
Progressives urgently need a strategy to take back the states from the GOP.
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Ditch the Distraction in Chief
Naomi Klein : Presidential Election 2004
Anybody but Bush. And then let's get back to work.
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Let's Not Devalue Ourselves
Katha Pollitt : Presidential Election 2004
It is a mistake to give the right a monopoly on values by agreeing with them in a half-baked, yes-but, wishy-washy way.
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Dispatches from the Boston Social Forum
Jennifer C. Berkshire : Global Justice Movement
If another world is possible, what will that world look like?
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What Do We Stand For?
Mark Green : Presidential Election 2000
A blueprint for a progressive patriotism.
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The Rainbow's Gravity
JoAnn Wypijewski : Democratic Party
Twenty years after Jesse Jackson's historic run for President, what does it all mean?
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Victory in 2004--and Beyond
Katrina vanden Heuvel & Robert L. Borosage : Democratic Party
Election 2004 can help toll the end of the conservative era that has defined US politics for the past quarter-century.
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A People's Democratic Platform
Howard Dean, George McGovern, Walter Cronkite, Ellen Chesler, Margaret Cho, George Lakoff, Bakari Kitwana, John Brademas, Arthur Miller, John Sayles, Chuck Close, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Doris "Granny D" Haddock, Jamin Raskin, Nell Minow, Lani Guinier, Studs Terkel, Sherrod Brown, Eric Schlosser, James K. Galbraith, Gary Indiana, Jeremy Bernstein, David Bonior
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The Liberal State
Charles P. Pierce : Massachusetts
In Kerry's Massachusetts, established power meets the reform impulse.
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Unfulfilled Promise
Jim Weinstein has spent most of his adult life writing about the failures and possibilities of the American left.
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The Rebirth of the NYRB
Scott Sherman : Corporate Media & Consolidation
The highbrow literary magazine has re-emerged as a combative political actor.
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Straight, Not Narrow
What my straight friends refused to understand was that my fight was also a fight against the right.
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Getting Out Every Vote
Jeff Blum : Presidential Election 2004
Three lessons for progressive organizing.
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An Idea Factory for the Democrats
Robert Dreyfuss : Public Policy Groups
The Center for American Progress was conceived as the Democratic answer to the Heritage Foundation...
2003
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Liberal Signs of Life
Eric Alterman : Media Analysis
The "liberal media" is dead. Long live the liberal media.
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The Long Detour
For all of democratic society, this new (and certainly transitory) stage of history is costly and frightening.
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Local Heroes
John Nichols : Politicians & Political Leaders
Eight state legislators who are making a difference.
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ALEC Meets His Match
John Nichols : Conservatives & The American Right
Challenging the right's powerhouse.
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'Anti-Semitism,' Israel and the Left
Who's really behind the crude equation between Israel and "the Jews"?
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Kumbaya Dammit--and Nine More No-Brainers for a Smarter Left
Dan Carol : Campaigns & Elections
Nine simple rules for winning elections and building progressive coalitions in the US.
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Alternative Voices on Campus
Emma Ruby-Sachs & Timothy Waligore : Student Movements
Progressive papers are key in creating a movement, but they lack support.
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The Smiths Go to Washington
Katha Pollitt : Peace Activism
Nothing beats just getting out there and making the antiwar movement visible.
2002
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The Moral Quandary
The moral case for intervening in Iraq is very strong, but not strong enough.
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Hawks at the Washington Post
The house organ for America's political class is pushing Bush's case for war.
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The Left and 9/11
Sparks fly in the debate over US intervention and the war on terror.
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Progressive Blooms
Katrina vanden Heuvel : Democratic Party
As long as there is no bold challenge to the extremism of this Administration, it will exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11 in an ever more regressive direction.
2001
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What's Left? A New Life for Progressivism
Joel Rogers & Katrina vanden Heuvel : War on Terrorism
September 11 and its aftermath create a tremendous opening for progressives.
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Winning Politics
Paul Wellstone : Democratic Party
The lesson drawn by inside-the-Beltway pundits is always the same: Operate from the center.
2000
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Daniel Singer
Read an appreciation of the life of The Nation's longtime Europe Correspondent and peruse a collection of his writings for the magazine.
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The Election and Beyond
Despite its disapointments, Election 2000 might yet turn out to be the progressive moment--when we stopped backing up and started moving forward.
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The Nation Dozen
John Nichols : Democratic Party
A survey of twelve Congressional candidates who combine a chance of winning with a commitment to use the victory to fight for fundamental change.
1999
This week: How the democrats can best pursue a true progressive economic platform and a fair and just immigration policy? The Nation's Bob Moser, John Nichols and Roberto Lovato debate on these two critical issues. (13mb mp3)
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