US Politics: One Progressive Nation Marches on Washington

EA's US Politics correspondent Lee Haddigan writes:

In the past few months, US media have commented extensively on the "enthusiasm gap" among liberal voters that is threatening the chances of Democrat candidates in the forthcoming elections for Congress. This Saturday sees the progressive base of the party fight back. Over 150 local, state, and national organizations will unite under the banner "One Nation Working Together" and descend on Washington to demand "Jobs, Justice, and Education For All".

Like media personality Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally of 28 August, the event will take place at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And like the Beck rally, this march will draw upon the legacy of the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. But, where the "Restoring Honor" meeting emphasized the need to restore the civil rights of conservatives, this March will return to the original impetus for the 1963 March: economic justice for minorities, demanded in the slogans on most of the banners that were photographed that day.  

The website promoting the One Nation march claims that hundreds of thousands of people will attend, listening to speeches calling for a return to policies that promote the American Dream --- a Dream that died, the website maintains, in 1968. Presumably that is because of the assassinations of King and Robert F. Kennedy, though others would argue the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention marked the end of the "peace and love" generation’s hopes of radical change in America. 

The American Dream for the current generation appears to rest on a belief, though the movement is short on specifics and long on pronou.ncements, that “each person who wants to work can find a job that pays enough to support a family” There are also calls to strengthen the right of employees to join a union, and an increase in the minimum wage with a permanent linkage to the rate of inflation.

If the economy is the main focus of the march, it still pays attention to the concept of equal justice for Americans, with an emphasis on the importance of a quality education for all. The policy proposals include an increase in federal support to higher education institutions that cater to the neglected classes of American society: community colleges, historically black institutions, and schools serving women and Hispanics.

On equal justice, a particular proposal that grabs attention is the demand for former felons to be given the right to vote. But as a march that is dedicated to reinvigorating progressives, rather than to putting a statement of specific dissatisfactions with the current administration, the website's louder message is that Saturday will be “rooted in the ideal that all people - regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or ability --- should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and contribute to an economy that works for everyone".

It is this inclusive message that the One Nation march aims to propagate, and one that organizers pronounce will be “fueled by hope, not hate”. The website takes care not to put any blame on the Democrat administration, pointing the finger instead at an obstructionist Senate and the greed of Wall Street. But it is a recent news release that highlights the urgent need for a mass rally to voice progressive dismay: the US Census Bureau claims one in seven Americans are living in poverty. Again, the President is not put to task for this shameful statistic, but the One Nation statement does emphasise the fact that this marks the third consecutive year this number has risen, with a significant jump in the number of blacks and Hispanics.

The coalition participating in the rally comprises a number of unions (AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME), civil rights organizations (NAACP, Human Rights Campaign), peace activists (United for Peace and Justice, Code Pink), and progressive groups from individual churches to the New York Humanist Society. Organizers of the rally highlight the fact that it is not a partisan march, but a quick look at some of the groups involved make it clear this is an attempt to counter the grassroots activity of the Tea Party.

It is perhaps fitting, considering the role of civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph in the original March in 1963 to see what the Institute named after him regards as the purpose of One Nation. It states, “It’s time we work together again to ensure that every one has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream –-- a secure job, a safe home, and a quality education.” But more than One Nation, the A. Philip Randolph Institute emphasises that their movement is in opposition to the current “backdrop of national debate heating up with shouts of bigotry, anger and hate” that with its “name-calling and finger-pointing, risks destroying everything this great country stands for.” 

It appears that CODE PINK have invested more effort than most in participating. CODE PINK began as a group of women dedicated to protesting George W. Bush’s war in Iraq and has evolved into a grassroots campaign which opposes all wars and advocates the redirection of military spending “into healthcare, education, green jobs, and other life-affirming activities”. The homepage of their website lists a string of events taking place from the Thursday before the march to the Monday afterwards, promoting their message of "Working Together To Fund Jobs, Not War". 

One of the co-sponsors of the march is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has committed itself to providing free transport to the event from every metropolitan area within 12 hours of Washington. But their website is surprisingly quiet on the rally when compared to the Transport Workers Union homepage. They, like most other groups involved, blame the Republican minority in the Senate for blocking meaningful change, and urge their members to join a “mobilization which shows we’re not going to cede the political agenda to a phony, pseudo-populist party, created by wealthy interests and extremists”. 

For those who like to follow the money in American politics, the One Nation event on Saturday, and the grassroots programs that will be initiated after the march, are the project of Tides Center. A tax-exempt organisation, Tides Center financially sponsors progressive causes nationwide and in 2008, according to its Form 990, received $88,985,021 in contributions and grants. 

After the crowds that gathered for Beck’s rally in August and the subsequent 9-12 Tea Party gathering, this Saturday will offer a strong indication of how far the "enthusiasm gap" has affected the progressive core of the Democratic Party. The march has been planned for a long time, marking a month to go before the elections, and it involves most of the major organizations on the Left of American politics. The Democrat’s greatest hope for avoiding the sweeping defeats in November, predicted by many, is for their voters to put aside their disillusionment with the progress made in Washington and realise that the protest of abstaining from voting will ensure Republican control of Congress. This march marks the beginning of concerted efforts by activists to convince those wavering voters that the politics of hope and change must not be defeated by what they see as the politics of hate and fear.