THE TRUCE

A journalistic account of the uneasy alliance between the progressive and establishment wings of the Democratic Party.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews with party insiders, reporters Walker and Luppen trace the origins of the modern progressive movement and the strategizing that has brought it to the fore. That movement didn’t flourish under the Obama presidency; Obama, inherently cautious, held to a centrist policy, and even though Joe Biden foresaw Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, Obama backed her. For his part, Biden also recognized that the Obama coalition of voters was fragile, and he’s been notably open to the work of building alliances between those with left and centrist tendencies. Even so, the authors write, “The party continues to feud over whether to present a transformative progressive message tuned to their base or a moderate one designed to cater to independents and have a broader appeal.” Interestingly, some of that bridge-building owes to Obama, who, learning a lesson from Clinton’s loss, “wanted to ensure [that] the two factions of the party could build a solid alliance to take on Trump.” Whether the bridges will endure remains to be seen, but the approach has shown results. For example, the failure of the “red wave” in the 2022 midterm elections was one sign, even if a Democratic bulwark—namely, the state of New York—lost four seats to Republicans, owing to the factors that have kept Democrats from winning elsewhere: “internecine disputes, influxes of Republican megadonor cash, and the steady barrage of right-leaning media machinery.” The authors close with a gimlet-eyed analysis of where matters stand, with Bernie Sanders voicing particular concern that the party stands at a crossroads of representing the working class or staying “a corporately controlled party beholden to your wealthy campaign contributors.”

A good choice for politics watchers, especially as the 2024 presidential race heats up.