Trump has a Unique Opportunity to Reach out to Some Progressives On Key Issues
An old saying is that politics makes strange bedfellows. While individuals may dislike each other and have differing views on a number of policies, people and groups with common goals can often work together on a joint agenda. The progressive wing of the Democratic party has not been treated very well by the leaders of the failed party for some time. The Democratic National Committee changed the rules to hurt Bernie Sander’s 2016 Presidential run, Obama completely ignored the concerns of the left by pushing the Transpacific trade agreement that Warren and most of the members of this wing of the Party opposed, and Biden’s approval of the Willow Project, the largest oil and gas development in US history, was done in the face of many more liberal members of the Democratic Party.
Many progessives in the US Congress, such as Bernie Sanders and John Fetterman, have never been that fond of the leadership of the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders caucuses with the Democratic party even though his official political affiliation is independent. This is why more attentive observers shouldn’t be surprised that both Senators Fetterman and Sanders have reached out to incoming President Trump. Fetterman recently went to the Mar-A-Lago Club to meet with Trump, while Sanders publicly commented that he would be interested in working with Musk to trim waste in Government.
There is a clear split in the Democratic party after the American people sent a resounding message to Washington that they support the MAGA vision for the country and want politicians from both parties to work together. While some Democratic politicians, such as minority leader Hakeem Jefferies and Senator Warren have already begun to attack Trump, there are more progressive members who were never that happy with the leadership of the Democratic party who are clearly willing to work with the incoming administration. Michelle Obama’s decision to not attend Trump’s inauguration also shows the unwillingness of many in the Democratic party to accept the verdict of the past election. Trump and Obama were also seen having a friendly conversation recently at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
Fetterman and Sanders are both Senators from states with a predominantly working-class population, some Democratic politicians, such as Senator Warren, will likely feel more pressure from younger and more progressive groups in states such as Massachusettes to continue to pretend that Trump is an existential threat to Democracy and repeat old lies about the incoming President.
While Trump obviously disagrees with progressives on most issues, there are some key areas including trade and foreign policy where these far-left individuals and the MAGA movement should have similar policy goals. Many progressives have long opposed foreign wars and policies that promote regime change and the corruption of some in the military industrial-complex as well. This coalition has also opposed more corporate trade agreements such as NAFTA and TPP to support more labor-based trade agreements such as the the USMCA trade agreement that Trump successfully negotiated to replace the failed NAFTA deal. Even Senator Warren voted for and praised the USMCA trade agreement after opposing TPP when Obama was President. Judicial reform is another area where MAGA and progressives should be able to work together. Trump is looking to build on the success he had with his step 1 act he got done in his impressive first term.
The Democratic party is a broken and fragmented entity right now, there is a clear opportunity for Trump to reach out to disaffected members of the party and progressives who want to actually get work done on behalf of the American people. Trump won both the Electoral College and the popular vote, the American people sent a clear message to Washington that the country wants the parties to work together. While the country obviously remains divided, there is an opportunity for the incoming President to reach out to individuals and groups on the left to form a large enough voting bloc to advance much of Trump’s agenda.
