Why the Ideas Primary Matters

Why the Ideas Primary Matters

What’s important now is to hold the media accountable for reporting on the substance of the ideas fairly, not simply on the glitz and gossip of the campaigns.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

What promises to be a fiercely contested 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign has begun. Already too much of the reportage focuses on the horse race: who’s up and who’s down, who’s likable or electable, who’s sparring with whom, and who’s facing scandal. But what’s fascinating about this campaign—as Robert L. Borosage reports in The Nation this week—is that the primary may well feature a contest of ideas.

Democrats are, of course, looking for the candidate best suited to rout President Trump. Getting rid of him is necessary but not sufficient. Trump’s election was a byproduct of the failures of the establishments of both parties. As even Hillary Clinton acknowledged in her book on the 2016 campaign, Americans are looking for fundamental change, for “big bold ideas” that might actually deal with the challenges we face.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) electrified voters in 2016 not because of his “likability” or “electability” but because he credibly offered an agenda for fundamental change. His signature ideas—Medicare-for-all, a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free college, and more—are ever more popular. In gearing up for a likely run in 2020, Sanders has a new book and an expanded agenda, including a clear challenge to establishment views on foreign and military policy.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column <here< a=””>.</here<>

 

Take a stand against Trump and support The Nation!

In this moment of crisis, we need a unified, progressive opposition to Donald Trump. 

We’re starting to see one take shape in the streets and at ballot boxes across the country: from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s campaign focused on affordability, to communities protecting their neighbors from ICE, to the senators opposing arms shipments to Israel. 

The Democratic Party has an urgent choice to make: Will it embrace a politics that is principled and popular, or will it continue to insist on losing elections with the out-of-touch elites and consultants that got us here? 

At The Nation, we know which side we’re on. Every day, we make the case for a more democratic and equal world by championing progressive leaders, lifting up movements fighting for justice, and exposing the oligarchs and corporations profiting at the expense of us all. Our independent journalism informs and empowers progressives across the country and helps bring this politics to new readers ready to join the fight.

We need your help to continue this work. Will you donate to support The Nation’s independent journalism? Every contribution goes to our award-winning reporting, analysis, and commentary. 

Thank you for helping us take on Trump and build the just society we know is possible. 

Sincerely, 

Bhaskar Sunkara 
President, The Nation

Ad Policy
x