Biden Offers a Moment - Progressives Must Seize It

One thing Joe Biden does bring to the ticket is a working-class perspective. He's still one of the poorest members of the US Senate, and he shares a lot of similarities to my dad - commuting on the train every day and returning home to the family, the wife who's a teacher. This video taken as part of SEIU's "Walk a day in my shoes" program, where Biden spent a day working as a custodian in Cedar Rapids, IA, is very instructive:



Think of the difference between this and the guy with 7-12 houses (who knows how many?), who chides working Americans by telling them they couldn't possibly pick crops in Yuma for $50/hour, and the difference between Democrats and a conservative movement that believes owning 7 homes is indicative of the American dream.

We're going through an ideological shift in this country. Liberal positions are gaining credence and Biden is in a great place to help win the argument, to make that fear of change a little less fearful. And he can come out and credibly make a statement like this - and make it stick.

There’s not a single good reason for any worker—especially any union member—to vote against Barack Obama. There’s only one really bad reason to vote against him: because he’s not white.

A lot of good union people just can’t get past the idea that there’s something wrong with voting for a black man. Well, those of us who know better can’t afford to look the other way.

[There’s] no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism—and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.

(Good for AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka for that one.)

Obama fits in the "old progressive" tradition of the Bidens of the world. He's a free market Democrat who believes in pragmatic, gradual, incremental change. I really don't see a liberal shock doctrine with this guy, even though most of the far-reaching progressive change in this country did come swiftly. Forcing that rapidity of movement is up to us to push from the bottom up. We do have to act fast.

I think an Obama Administration can be very cautious and centrist OR pretty darn liberal. Where it falls will depend on circumstances and how progressives stand up and fight. Biden's choice doesn't really change that - he'll be an asset in the Senate, but he won't approach things in a transformative way. It's really up to us.