![]() ![]() This group includes majorities of college graduates, women, urban and suburban residents, young people and Black Americans. In 2020, some hesitant progressives were so appalled by Trump that they turned out to vote for Biden despite their deep reservations.īut it might be difficult to reassemble the same broad voter bloc that put Biden in the White House if some elements are motivated more by fear of Trump than enthusiasm for Biden. That means even small erosions of progressive energy for Biden might erase the thin margins that delivered him critical swing states like Arizona and Georgia in 2020.Ī factor that could neutralize those threats is that Donald Trump, the early Republican front-runner, could again be Biden's general election opponent. Such a backlash could hurt Biden in 2024 given that he is likely to face a challenge from the left - progressive activist Cornel West is mounting a Green Party run - and could be squeezed from the center - the political group No Labels is trying to recruit a centrist candidate. “And it’s very frustrating to be a working-class American and being fed this ‘vote blue’ narrative, when the real conditions of our everyday lives are not changing.” “We have not ‘Built Back Better,’” said Walton, referencing Biden’s 2020 campaign slogan. She also noted that student debt will continue to deal crushing financial blows to millions of people, even with Biden's attempted remedy. ![]() Walton complained that Biden had not done more to protect abortion and civil rights after Supreme Court rulings that weakened both. “The narrative about the successes of the Biden administration is smoke and mirrors," said India Walton, a progressive who beat Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in the 2021 Democratic primary but lost to him in the general election. Some, though, remain angry that Biden did not deliver on other big promises, including slashing fossil fuel production, advancing a federal policing overhaul and expanding voting rights. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., recently endorsed Biden's 2024 campaign. Similar sentiments have been echoed by Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Warren, D-Mass. “I think the sense is, he’s had a much more successful, impactful, consequential presidency than progressives expected.” “This isn’t someone who’s spent the first term doing all kinds of objectionable things,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a veteran of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign who also helped progressive Brandon Johnson win election as Chicago's mayor this spring. Many progressives have cheered steep federal spending increases on major social programs and green energy, as well as Biden's renewed plan to offer student debt relief after the Supreme Court struck down his original efforts. Jayapal's comments point to Biden's progress in winning over his party's left wing, an important part of the coalition he is relying on to win a second term. Biden, as vice president, was heckled over Obama administration immigration policies. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., on the same stage.Īt past Netroots conferences, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was booed and Black Lives Matter protesters disrupted a presidential candidate forum in 2016. That brought cheers, which was no easy feat given that pro-Palestinian activists moments earlier had shouted down Rep. "But I gotta tell you, I am a Biden fan now.” “When Biden was in, I was like, ‘Oh, man,’” said Jayapal, D-Wash., lamenting that Sanders and Warren had fallen short in the presidential primary. Pramila Jayapal, leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, even concluded the event by recounting how she had become a Biden convert. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two of Biden's rivals for the Democratic nomination in 2020.īut the antipathy toward Democrats seen as too mainstream or moderate did not largely extend to Biden at the group's recent conference in Chicago. More recently, it has championed the message of economic populism from Sens. CHICAGO - CHICAGO (AP) - President Joe Biden would seem an unnatural fit for the activists at Netroots Nation, an annual gathering of progressives that was created to harness online rage over George W. ![]()
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