For the Progressive Movement: Lessons I Learned from the RI COOP
By Michael Salzillo
Politics is not easy. If it was, the problems we face would be solved automatically or very quickly. But the complexity of democratic politics is why it can take such a long time to solve the challenges facing us. We question how to best address those issues.
Our democracy encourages a diversity of thought and approaches to the challenges we face. And I am encouraged by what the national progressive movement can do in its own way. The Congressional Progressive Caucus and Senate progressives, for example, have a neat array of tools in recruiting and supporting candidates running for seats in the House of Representatives, and in enacting their legislative goals one way or another. If one way does not work out, we try out the next one. Then the other one. Then another one. That is the same kind of thinking behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushing the Affordable Care Act over the finish line. For Leaders Dick Gephardt and David Bonior when they held Newt Gingrich accountable for his government shutdown and various campaign and ethics violations. When Mike Mansfield and Sam Rayburn and others passed New Deal and Great Society bills with all the muscle and spirit they had. That is the exact same thing Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren do today in their campaigning for progressive candidates and causes, in notable legislative initiatives proposed by them and others, in their committee assignments, and in the dealmaking that is made and the negotiations along the way. Same motto: If one plan doesn’t work, we try the backup plan. Then the next one. Never giving up. Legislation doesn’t work? Try the ballot box. Try every method that can bring an impact. Never quitting and always being prepared one way or another. Their work will inspire a generation of passionate progressive leaders to take the helm and continue their work some day. I have great confidence in the movement’s ability to do that nationally now with the wise veterans, and eventually with the next generation of dynamic talent.
That is the true work of the Progressive Movement and the Democratic Party that stems from the mold of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. From Sam Rayburn, Mike Mansfield, Dick Gephardt, David Bonior, Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. And many others who I can’t mention all at once, but are nonetheless significant in their own ways, like Pramila Jayapal, Keith Ellison, Mark Pocan, and Peter DeFazio. We have a great legacy and a bright future. But I fear in some areas, Democrats and/or progressives are falling short, or could fall short of our goals.
These concerns are real and personal because they are in my home state. My first campaign was for Gina Raimondo’s 2018 primary challenger, former RI Secretary of State Matt Brown. Since then, I have volunteered for my State Senator, my State Rep., and a very gritty and energetic 2022 City Council candidate. I have advised others in a much smaller capacity, but I did have a sense of exposure and belonging to the community. For the values we championed. For the battles we engaged in on rules, budget measures, legislation we supported or opposed, and candidates running to make a difference. The same stuff that was and is still being done nationally. And we won in big ways. Since 2014, RI progressives made considerable gains in the General Assembly, ousting notable incumbents backed by conservative leadership in both chambers, and significantly growing our ranks. I am still proud of that work that the great people in Rhode Island-the people I know, and don’t know for that matter-did. It was necessary and worth the ride.
Since then, I have seen a disturbing trend in the local grassroots that could portend real trouble for them in 2024, and for those who don’t heed the advice. Especially the Rhode Island Political Cooperative founded by Matt Brown and other local Democratic leaders fighting for real Democratic Party values. Their success is one to look at in 2020 on a united front that changed leadership and policy. What they did in 2020 worked. What they did in 2022 and what they are doing now don’t.
The COOP wing of the RI grassroots did offer notable arguments and critiques about both policy and approach. Policy is understandable and well-known already. But approach is notable too. It is not easy. It is understandable why state lawmakers supported conservative leadership so their legislation got through and they were able to do their jobs for their constituents. It may not be the right thing necessarily on a moral perspective, but it’s very understandable. It is also difficult to directly challenge leadership, as my state lawmakers have done. Often, it incapacitates one’s ability to legislate or receive committee assignments, but that is also necessary, if not more important, to bring change. And both methods in a way had for the local grassroots that elected Sam Bell and David Morales, Aaron Regunberg and Rebecca Kislak, Leonela Felix and Brianna Henries, Brandon Potter and Frank Ferri, Deb Ruggiero and Michelle McGaw, Alana DiMario and Linda Ujifusa, Dawn Euer and Val Lawson, Tiara Mack and Cynthia Mendes, Marcia Ranglin-Vassell and Jeanine Calkin, on and on.
That is why I was disheartened by the divisiveness that has since infected the movement we have fought so hard to build in the first place; especially among people who I feel were fighting for the right causes, and who are truly good, decent, sweet-hearted people. And while we all could do a better job one way or another, I am disturbed by the vitriol that has come out in the progressive civil war over approaches and small disagreements spurred by the RI COOP’s moves in 2022. The litmus tests of who is progressive and who is not. Who supports leadership and who opposes leadership. Who fights harder for certain issues and who doesn’t. Instead of looking at bigger problems and at the real ideological disagreements we have with very conservative Democrats, we have become entrenched instead in Aaron Regunberg being an establishment politician, or Karen Alzate not pushing hard enough to change tax policy because she supports the current House speaker, or Jason Knight being a sell out because he supported the previous House Speaker, even as he did come out against him notably in 2019. Or on the other hand with the Sam Bells not getting anything done, or not having good relationships with other lawmakers. Indeed, the movement has teared into each other more than it has against leadership with the viral spats on Twitter, and the primary challenges to any of these lawmakers. It has continued now, with State Rep. David Morales being kicked out of the Providence DSA simply because he voted for House Speaker Shekarchi after wanting to see how he would be as a party leader and how he would conduct himself in the House chamber (same thing happened to State Rep. Brandon Potter in 2020 when the COOP kicked him out for that same reason). Small disagreements with pretty reliable, passionate, and intelligent people.
This was something that I mentioned to people privately, including Matt Brown in the Fall of 2021. I, along with my older brother, warned him the divisiveness would do no good to the movement and to his own political chances-even for former supporters who were ready to support him again. He basically laughed it off. For someone who has changed on his own positions that other people were criticized for (like environmental issues, campaign finance laws, ethics laws, or gay marriage), this also felt genuinely a little hypocritical. Well, he only got 8% of the vote (he got 34% in 2018 against Raimondo). His running mate finished third place in the Lt. Governor’s primary. Most of the RI COOP candidates lost and lost badly in their contests (about 23 out of 28 or 29 candidates total lost)-including in easily winnable contests. It was an abysmal strategy on the COOP’s part. Giving a free pass to conservative Democrats (like Ramon Perez who notably stumbled into porn tabs on the State House computers). Primarying the more liberal members in the State House and State Senate. Recruiting candidates with anti-vax positions, and those who flip-flopped on abortion, and not being upfront about their policy evolutions earlier. Giving up incumbents’ seats that we would have otherwise won. Every mistake that could have been made was made by Matt Brown and COOP leadership. The sad thing was, they did not have to lose. The divisions didn’t have to come to the surface in full form and publicly. That was simply a choice and a path that was pursued.
And the stains and stench of these divisions reek to this present day. In fact, it bubbled up again today with a potential candidate announcing his exploration of a run. They have not healed. And I am greatly worried about what it portends locally in 2024. Will RI progressives lose more ground in the General Assembly? Will their name become even more mud as it did in 2022 in many, many elections? Will conservative Democrats see an opening to take advantage of these blistering wounds? The way things are going now, that probably will happen. This is a pipe dream a RI Senate President and House Speaker could only wish for-until now. And it is something they are watching closely no doubt about it, so they can say how “far-left” and “radical” we are and our values are. And all we will have to counteract will be the tweets and decisions that back them up. That is a nightmare scenario we should not want to be in. It will shut out our needed voices in Rhode Island politics.
And it is why we cannot repeat these mistakes that resemble what we see now in Trumpism. To not have narrow litmus tests many of us can’t even pass. To not go after those with similar passions and causes. To not resort to self-cannibalism. But instead to do the basics. To make a difference. To broaden our tent. And to do the job right. The RI movement really needs to learn this lesson. And learn it really fast before we blow opportunities and roll back the progress we had made. And before we turn off people who would otherwise support our causes.
Michael Salzillo is a campaign strategist and volunteer for several local campaigns. Full disclosure: This editorial was done independently without any input from anyone. This work reflects the thoughts and feelings of only myself and no one else.
