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The Progressive Purity Trap
A snake eating its tail
Gavin Newsom didn’t betray the progressive movement. He just got serious about governing. For that, some on the left are already planning the parade to his political funeral.
The California governor, once the poster child of coastal liberalism, pivoted recently, backing stricter penalties for repeat offenders, clearing homeless encampments, and calling for border reform. His state still leads on climate action and LGBTQ+ rights, but you wouldn’t know it from the whining progressive left who keep eating all the cheese at the party.
Newsom isn’t alone. There’s a pattern. Progressive pragmatists get penalized for doing the messy work of governing, while purists get applause for holding the moral line — even if it costs real people real progress. If progressives don’t wise up soon, MAGA wins again — and this time, the party will be over.
Everyone Loves a Martyr. Governing? Not So Much.
Newsom’s recent shift in message is no mystery. He’s preparing for what’s next — maybe 2028, maybe sooner if fate intervenes. We’ve repeatedly learned that to win nationally, progressive politicians must appeal beyond MSNBC panels and activist Instagram. Newsom is speaking to swing-state voters who want results, not manifestos. For that, the progressive left treats him like he just slapped a MAGA sticker on the bumper of his Tesla.
The snake-eating-its-tail behavior by progressives is not new:
- Barack Obama got 20 million people health insurance. But because the plan wasn’t single-payer, he was branded a neoliberal sellout by the very base that once chanted “Yes We Can.” Unfortunately, in 2010, we didn’t, and progressives stayed home while Republicans took back the House.
- Ice Cube — yes, that Ice Cube — dared to suggest that maybe Black voters should get a policy agenda in writing before pledging loyalty to any party. The rapper, who performed “Arrest the President” and called Trump “Russian intelligence,” did NOT endorse Trump, but purist progressives murdered this nuance in a drive-by on the Information Superhighway.
- Kamala Harris prosecuted police officers for misconduct and fought the foreclosure crisis. Still, progressive purists repeatedly sandwiched her between the too-radical-for-Main-Streeter and not-progressive-enough-for-the-BlueSkyers. Harris, whose measured approach to Gaza, advocated for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid, only to be shouted down for not torching the entire U.S.-Israel relationship on live TV.
- AOC votes “present” once, once! — on Iron Dome funding, clearly struggling with a complex issue, got dragged by purists like she’d voted to rename LaGuardia after Netanyahu. Ilhan Omar, caught between speaking truth to power and keeping her committee assignments, gets pilloried by left and right.
- Stacey Abrams refused to endorse “defund the police” in Georgia — because she knows the electorate. She still lost. But many on the left still question whether she is progressive enough.
- Bernie Sanders supported COVID-19 vaccines and public mandates, only to watch some of his followers accuse him of selling out to Big Pharma.
And when Joe Biden, who is one of the most progressive presidents since FDR, hesitates to burn down diplomatic channels over Gaza, activists declare him mentally feeble as if Trump’s stark, raving, mad penchant for playing with geopolitical matches won’t set the world alight.
The progressive paradox is like a snake eating its tail, a powerful symbol of self-renewal, but only if we break the interminable cycle of self-destruction.
What Purity Can’t Protect
The purists' moral clarity is intoxicating, and their political posture is free of compromise and mess. But without strategy, it is only posturing. And in politics, posturing without winning leaves all progressives standing in the cold.
If MAGA wins in 2026, or even gets close, 2028 may not be about health care or housing. They’ll be about whether your vote still counts and whether your protest still matters.
Pragmatism Is Not Capitulation. It’s Triage.
So what’s the play?
1. Stop eating our tails. There’s a difference between accountability and puritanical self-destruction. If a progressive candidate or politician is 80% aligned with your goals and 100% committed to keeping democracy functional, they are not your enemy.
2. Build coalitions that can govern. From book bans to abortion bans, MAGA plays hardball in city councils, school boards, and state legislatures. Progressives must work these venues with the same intensity as federal elections.
3. Create space for nuance. Let’s not force every politician to cross the Rubicon and burn every bridge behind them. Good governance requires leaders willing to hold their noses and shake the hand that signs the bill. No one wants to watch sausage get made, but we all love brunch.
4. Message people like they’re broke — because they are.
Income inequality is democracy’s greatest foe. We all want to believe in justice and equity, but when you’re worried about putting food on the table and a roof overhead, it’s hard to maintain an appetite for higher ideals. The Reenergize the American Dream Act, the RAD Act, acknowledges that economic survival is the foundation for democracy, not a footnote.
5. Start now. 2026 will be decided in 2025. That means recruiting pragmatic progressives who understand the assignment: protect democracy, pass real policy, and tell a story voters can believe in. 2028 depends on it.
Progressives don’t need to abandon their values, but we must start valuing the messy work of democracy, not just the performance of resistance. We don’t need another martyr. We need a majority.
So yes, Gavin Newsom might be sanding down the edges. Kamala Harris might be playing the long game. AOC might sometimes vote “present.” But if the alternative is another Trump term and a Supreme Court that makes The Handmaid’s Tale look like a rom-com, I’ll take messy progress over moral purity any day.
Losing with integrity might feel noble — until you realize who’s writing the next laws while you’re posting about principles.
