Signs of a resurgent left.

AuthorConniff, Ruth
PositionComment

Even before the Republicans embarrased themselves with their grotesque display of petty partisanship that led to the government shutdown, there were signs across the country of a resurgent progressive politics and a conservative collapse.

First, there was Bill de Blasio's victory in the New York mayoral primary.

An afro-wearing Jon Stewart captured New Yorkers' excitement over the de Blasio win. But the afro and the de Blasio family's sheer cuteness was the least of it.

De Blasio, New York's public advocate, was repeatedly discounted as too liberal for Bloomberg's New York.

But it turns out that his pro-public-school, anti-inequality, "tale of two cities" progressive message was a winner. An interesting piece by Peter Beinart in the Daily Beast suggests that de Blasio's win is more than a local story. Instead, Beinart writes, "de Blasio's victory is an omen of what may become the defining story of America's next political era: the challenge, to both parties, from the left."

Digging into data on young voters, Beinart notes that they are much more concerned about economic inequality, and much more interested in government-sponsored remedies, than either Clinton Democrats or Reagan Republicans.

Beinart points to the Occupy movement and the popularity of progressive, anti-Wall Street pols such as Senator Elizabeth Warren as evidence that rising inequality has finally turned a generation of voters against the anti-big-government gospel of Reagan and Clinton alike.

This proved true in New York, birthplace of Occupy, and America's most unequal city.

For public school advocates, de Blasio's victory is particularly welcome.

The bipartisan pro-business, antigovernment, anti-labor orthodoxy has done much to undermine public education in New York and across the country. De Blasio ran against the idea that privatization and closing schools is the answer for urban districts.

As a public school parent, former school board member, and public advocate, de Blasio campaigned on his record of fighting for every child "to get what his own daughter and son received an education from a New York City public high school that prepares students for success," his campaign website declares.

On his list of education priorities are "creating truly universal pre-kindergarten and after-school programs" funded by a tax on New Yorkers who make $500,000 or more, and "fighting unfair closures by standing up for struggling schools."

De Blasio connects the struggle for school...

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