By Alan Minsky, Executive Director, PDA

No More Retreat: We Must Fulfill the
Promise of America

Alan Minsky on the Progressive Path Forward

Part 1: Common Sense Revisited

In 1776. Tom Paine wrote: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

Today, we are in the throes of another deep crisis.

The United States of America has lost its way. The fundamental premise of our founding, the rejection of tyranny – the focus of Common Sense, the pamphlet which sparked the popular revolution of 1776-1783 – has been abandoned.

Today, we are ruled by a tyrant, a President whose criminality and drive for self-gain has obliterated the Constitution’s restrictions on one-man rule – aided throughout by cowering lackeys in Congress and justices of the courts who value their status over the sovereignty of the people.

The history of the past 250 years shows that significant social change, the type we need now – where real power and wealth are redistributed to the people, away from elites – only takes place in the wake of a crisis: witness 1776, the Civil War, America’s response to the great depression, and after WWII.

Now, we certainly have our crisis.

It’s time to get our act together, the center stage of history is waiting.

What Tom Paine observed in early 1776 is even more true today: “The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind.”

Paine inspired Americans to leave the British Empire with the prospect not only of dignity through self-rule, but also more power and prosperity – which, in turn, inspired the French, and the Haitians, and thus the entire world.

Now, our crisis is everyone’s crisis. For the past eighty years, America has been the country at the heart of a global system of nations and economy.

Now the people of the world watch in dismay and disbelief, as the dynamics of our internal disfunction destroy the beacon of democracy and popular sovereignty. Yet, no other nation, no other people, are stepping up to remedy the weakening of liberty and the rise of authoritarianism. Power dynamics being as they are, it’s hard to see how they could.

It’s up to us, the people of the United States: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

An America as great as its promise is right over the horizon.

It’s been there since the inception (“All men are created equal…”). The problem is that no one ever reaches the horizon, it continually recedes.

But now is not the time to address riddles; or develop a nuanced explanation of the betrayals of American history.

Now is the time for Common Sense, of the Tom Paine variety. Revolutionary Common Sense.

Looking through that lens, it’s clear why the idea of America’s unfulfilled promise is so salient at this moment.

America’s current crisis is rooted in the public’s deep dissatisfaction with the direction of our society and country, which has been consistent since the 2007-08 financial crisis and the ensuing Great Recession.

This sentiment is compounded by an even greater lack of faith in politicians to turn things around; especially now that one of the two major political figures who openly acknowledged these problems and promised a remedy (“Make America Great Again”) has been exposed before the whole world as a con man motivated by lining his pockets and dodging the law – but not before doing unprecedented damage to our constitutional democratic republic, delivering us to the precipice…

The authoritarians currently control most of the levers of power; have the backing of the wealthiest oligarchs the world has ever known; a powerful propaganda machine whirring 24/7 and they have no compunction about stealing elections. If they triumph in either November 2026 or ’28, it’s game over.

So, what will bring us back from the edge?

Tom Paine himself has the answer. The people must mobilize – both to reclaim our sovereignty and keep alive the unrivalled promise of America.

But no one will mobilize for a promise that is continually deferred.

We must release the “Promise of America” from its metaphorical exile over the horizon – and make this goal the attainable centerpiece of our politics (updated, of course, for 2026).

Indeed! Like Paine, we must think like revolutionaries. We are going to make something happen that is new in all of human history. We are on the precipice of creating the world’s first successful multi-ethnic democracy. With progressive leadership, we are going to create the greatest – the most just and prosperous – nation the world has ever known.

We are going to fulfill the promise of America!

Part 2: Common Sense Solution

(Common Sense so obvious they’ve yet to write an algorithm that can suppress it.)

As I said above, the American political system and, in fact, the entirety of American society are in the throes of a major crisis. Our constitutional democratic republic is fraying. Few could have imagined that this would be the case only three and a half decades after the United States had “won” The Cold War and established itself as the first truly unrivaled global hegemon.

There is no mystery about the cause. In poll after poll during every election cycle, one issue tops all others: The vast majority of Americans know the economy is not working for them. They also know that wasn’t always the case.

The current crisis is very much predicated upon the public’s awareness that once upon a time, not long ago, a slice of America’s tremendous wealth was set aside for them. Average Americans could pursue and achieve the “American Dream” through hard work. Indeed, evidence of this is everywhere to be seen across the American landscape. Today, however, this American dream of comfort, prosperity is out of reach for ever more Americans. At the same time, unprecedented wealth pours into the coffers of oligarchs and idle investors.

Working people are mad. They work non-stop hours in alienating jobs just to keep their heads above water. Their lives are slipping away; and they are condescendingly told by establishment politicians that the economy is strong. This anger will not abate until what they feel is their birthright is restored to them: prosperity and a sense of control, and stability in their lives.

Trumpian authoritarianism perfectly reflects the political interests of a wealthy elite: democracy must be suffocated, lest the dissatisfied masses interfere with their “right” to run the world that they own.

But people overwhelmingly want democracy. They understand that without it, there’s no prospect of building a society that respects them and serves the interests of the working person.

One thing is clear: either a shift happens in the economy such that it once again lifts average households and holds promise for all Americans – or the country will remain riveted by crisis. The era of post-war prosperity, the American dream of owning a suburban house, was too real and lasted too long, impacting too many people – that it can’t be erased from the collective American mind. Nothing less is acceptable.

Only the progressive agenda promises to deliver what the people want and need.

The “neoliberal” (market based) political consensus that sees all of the economy as a commodity to be bought and sold, collapsed in 2016, with the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Since that time, three political tendencies have vied for power in America’s two-party system:

• The Neo-Fascist Right: Represented by the now-dominant Trump wing of the Republican Party.
• The Neoliberal Center: Ranging from the defunct Romney wing of the GOP to the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party. These “conservatives” seek to maintain a failed status quo.
• The Progressive Left: Often referred to as Rooseveltian, Social Democratic, or Democratic Socialist.

Of the three, only this left alternative has a program designed to deliver for the American people: the re-establishment of a middle-class-centric social order.

This desire refers back to post-World War II America; and what historian Gary Gerstle refers to as the “New Deal Order.” By the 1970s, the countries that adopted this model were the wealthiest and most equitable in human history.

The conclusion we can draw from this: only one macro-economic model has a proven track record of delivering the broadly prosperous middle class society, in which the “American Dream” is readily attainable for all people willing to make a standard contribution to the social weal – that is, work one full time job (with full benefits and guaranteed vacation time!). This model was introduced to the world by FDR and Frances Perkins, codified in the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, and bolstered by a strong union movement. It used government spending to fill the gaps where the market failed to deliver social necessities to all people; and it deployed state power to regulate business and protect the population from the excesses and imbalances of capitalism. The model was developed in democratic societies and proved conducive to strengthening democracy.

In contrast, the neo-liberal model that followed the era of the “New Deal/Keynesian” consensus, was grounded by the central principal that the market knows best. Regulations were weakened (except when they served big business) and more decisions were placed in private hands. The result? Wealth and power flowed upward to the rich. The “Neoliberal Order,” has failed over the past 45 years to bring our society into that realm of prosperity. Rather, it has diminished the middle class and weakened the welfare of the general population while siphoning almost all the wealth produced collectively into the coffers of an idle investor class.

The electorate rebelled against the political status quo in 2016 with Sanders on the left and Trump on the right pulling apart what had been a bi-partisan neo-liberal consensus. Unfortunately, the wrong rebel candidate won, as Trump (for all of his bluster) has no intention of re-ordering the economy away from the interests of the investor class – and the economic and political power of the elite has become only more concentrated during his two administrations… and public dissatisfaction has reached fever pitch.

We must not pull any punches. Here’s the truth:

The public will remain dissatisfied and our society in a dangerous crisis until a President and Congress sets a new course – one that is, in fact, an old course, albeit adjusted for the 21st Century – and a broadly social democratic FDR-inspired social contract is re-implemented nationally.

No other set of policies has worked to generate such a prosperous society with aggregate wealth justly-distributed among the population. There is no other model that will deliver what Americas want and expect as citizens of the wealthiest country in the world.

What should such a program look like in contemporary America?

At PDA, we advocate for a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights. We demand universal “rights” for all, not “entitlements.” While liberals may see housing, education, and food as entitlements, we understand they are fundamental rights. Polling shows that every one of these rights has majority support amongst the American public.

We also focus on five “big costs” that destroy household balance sheets: Childcare, Housing, Higher Education, Healthcare and high-interest debt. The market will not adequately address these; they require regulation and public policy. They require political will.

Furthermore, we address poverty, to alleviate it and then eliminate it. Almost all of the world’s wealthy countries have low-to-no poverty with a large prosperous middle class; and all of the nations (not on the Arabian peninsula) that fit this description are healthy democracies. In fact, all of these countries were the strongest allies of the United States during the cold war: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and all of Western Europe including the UK. This is not a coincidence. Their shared economic model was initially developed in the 1930s in a democracy: the United States.

Tellingly, no other countries, not even China, has achieved the average level of household wealth as these countries (or even come close) during the entire neo-liberal era. That’s because only one economic model can develop and sustain this level of general prosperity: the FDR/Keynes/Social Democratic/Democratic Socialist model.

Lastly, let’s not fall for the nonsense put forth by neoliberal ideologues that progressive Keynesian economics won’t work in the mid-21st century. None of the other prosperous democracies, not even the UK, were as transformed by neo-liberalism as the United States. Sure, governments across the world adjusted to a global economic order defined by market fundamentalist principles, but their populations consistently voted to protect and maintain programs established during the post-war era of social democratic dominance. These programs continue to define the social fabric of all the world’s other prosperous democracies.

America will remain a society in decline, consumed by crises and prayed upon by demagogues until the national economy is once again organized in the interests of working people. This can only be achieved successfully through the implementation of an FDR/Keynesian/Democratic Socialist-inspired template of policies for the 21st Century.

Once the American people understand this, they will demand nothing less. The task for progressives is clear.

Thomas Paine’s path – to the revolutionary fulfillment of an America as great as its promise – lays ahead.1

1 10% of the population was cruelly excluded from post-WWII prosperity. Indeed, the widespread practice of redlining, which blocked Black Americans from buying homes in middle class communities, is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to the jaw-dropping racial wealth gap in America today. The elimination of this wealth gap, the product of centuries of racist social engineering, must be a priority for any progressive economic program going forward.

Part 3: Common Sense Strategy

So, pray tell, how are we going to alter the entire American economy so that it no longer serves the wealthy few, but delivers prosperity for the many; saving our democracy in the process?

The answer is simple: the same way we did before.

In the 1930s and ‘40s, with the threat of fascism looming, the Democratic Party was transformed by the mass entry of workers in coordination with the labor movement. Under FDR’s and Francis Perkins’ leadership, the Democratic Party’s New Deal policies redesigned the entire American economy. After the war, these policies provided the foundation for unprecedented affluence, defined by the growth of the largest and most prosperous middle class in human history

We must take over and transform the Democratic Party.

There are two central facts about the Democratic Party that everyone must understand if our democratic republic is going to survive President Donald Trump’s authoritarian counterrevolution:

1. The Democratic Party is the only institution in our society with the breadth and scale to defeat and vanquish Trumpism
2. The Democratic Party, as currently configured, has proven incapable of doing this.

Fortunately, the Democratic Party is a malleable institution. Winning control of one of America’s two major parties is the opportunity we need to redesign the economy so it serves the people, to build an America as great as its promise and fulfill Thomas Paine’s vision for a revolutionary country defined by freedom and equality for all.

We can get this done. The proof is in the polling. Ever since the 2024 general election, the Democratic Party has shattered records with astonishingly low approval ratings. At the very same time the Democrats are polling way ahead of the Republicans in relation to the upcoming 2026 midterms. This may seem contradictory, but it’s not. The public understands the necessity of defeating Trump’s GOP, which represents a mortal threat to our republic; and they will use the only instrument available to them to defeat MAGA, the Democratic Party, which at least supports the constitution.

This doesn’t negate the fact that the public loathes the centrist faction that has defined the Democratic Party in recent decades. Under their leadership, the Democratic Party has consistently gaslit the public: claiming to be with the people but serving the status quo; offering, at best, tiny incremental improvements, while imposing “necessary” austerity just as frequently. Furthermore, while a centrist-led Democratic Party has shown it can win narrow victories over Trump’s GOP, these have only amounted to temporary setbacks. After a few years of unsatisfactory Democratic governance, the fascists come roaring back

In contrast, the centrist’s nemesis, Bernie Sanders, consistently ranks as the most popular politician in the country. This is not due to his rakish charm, but rather his unwavering commitment to a progressive agenda, which has overwhelming support among Democrats and majority support among the general public.

So, how do we Achieve what the people want, and wrest control of the Democratic Party from a historically anachronistic, but deeply entrenched and well-funded dominant faction that serves the interests of the elite and their courtiers?

Before addressing that, let’s backtrack briefly to clarify why the progressive takeover and transformation of the Democratic Party is a historical necessity if we’re going to salvage our democracy and truly Make America as Great as its promise. Two Reasons:

1. For better or for worse, we live in a two-party political system.

Since 1946 there have been over 17,000 elections for the U.S. House of Representatives. How many have been won by a third-party candidate? Zero.

In the U.S. Senate, there have been two third party candidates elected: William F Buckley’s brother, James L Buckley, in 1970 on the New York Conservative line (usually a fusion Party); and Joe Lieberman, founding member of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party.

The record is similar in statewide and local elections, where there have literally been millions of contests since WWII. The number of third-party victories is infinitesimal, less than one-tenth of 1%.

Now that Trump’s Republican Party is openly embracing a Putin-like evisceration of democracy and elite accountability – effectively destroying our constitutional republic – there’s even less tolerance for third party adventurism, or anything that splits the Democratic Party vote.

Third Partyism in the United States is, at best, an utter waste of time and energy; at worst, left-wing third parties facilitate the rise of the right—both by siphoning votes away from Democrats, and by drawing well-intentioned progressives away from participating in politics that actually make a difference.

1. This is unequivocally true for a very simple reason: The rules and regulations that govern our society are still, to this day, determined by our elected officials, who are either Democrats or Republicans.

Let’s be clear what that means. At the federal level, Congress passes legislation, the President signs it into law, the courts uphold the law and law enforcement ensures its implementation.

Movement activism, no matter how powerful, cannot change the law or create public policy – both require elected officials passing legislation.

From the 1970s through to the rise of the new progressive movement with Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016, this reality was somehow lost on progressives. Resources poured into single issue advocacy campaigns; very little into electing progressive candidates. From addressing the climate emergency to reforming law enforcement to many other progressive causes, popular support grew substantially, but very little changed. There were too few progressive politicians in place to make that change a reality.

The American people want change. Trump is an utter charlatan, and the centrists are empty suits. It’s time for progressives to step onto the stage of history; and do what’s necessary to deliver change.

Either progressives win control of the Democratic Party or we’re lost.

So, how to proceed? There are two main fronts where the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party will take place: inside the Party apparatus; and in primary elections. These two fronts are distinct but inter-related, success will require victory in both.

There is much confusion among the public about the role and authority of the Democratic National Committee and the ruling bodies of the State Democratic Parties. Oftentimes, the DNC gets blamed for the Party’s milquetoast policies, but the Democratic Party is not a parliamentary party, in which its candidates are expected to adhere to the platform.

Rather, Democratic candidates determine their own policy priorities. Thus, the Party’s political identity is defined by its leading elected officials more than by the platform deliberations at Party meetings.

So, what does the Party apparatus do and why is it important?

The party platform and official resolutions are not entirely insignificant, and they could be used to greater effect. If progressives get the upper hand at the DNC or at the state level they can do more to promote the platform to help establish progressive candidates as the true Democrats in the minds of voters.

Similarly, a progressive Democratic Party would flip the endorsement script and start endorsing progressive candidates over centrist opponents in primaries.

The party’s governing bodies make the rules for how it operates. Rule changes can impact every facet of the Party, transforming it from a party dominated by inaccessible elites, into one that is responsive to the interests of poor, working-and middle-class Americans.

Right now, there is a battle raging inside the party over the role of money in primary elections. Progressives are calling for its prohibition. In recent years, progressive candidates have narrowly lost numerous elections that they were poised to win until massive tranches of dark money poured into their districts to fund an avalanche of propaganda in support of their conservative opponents.

While the party can do little about money spent to influence general elections (other than support measures like Hawaii’s Act 11) there are a variety of measures that the Democratic Party can take to limit, or eliminate, the influence of “big money” in its own primaries.

The public, once again, agrees with progressives on this. If Democrats become known as the party that has honest primaries, free of big money influence, they will be rewarded in the general election.

None of these positive changes are possible unless progressive activists move into the Party, become the new majority and change it from within.

Most of the state parties, while not exactly hollow shells, have low-to-very low participation. Given the groundswell of enthusiasm for the progressive movement across the country, we should be able to overwhelm the centrists with our numbers. Since the state parties, in turn, elect the Majority of the DNC’s members, progressive leadership at the national level will follow.

However, don’t expect a cakewalk. There was a wave of Democratic Party entryism after the 2016 Sanders campaign. While this led to progressives becoming the dominant faction in a few states, most progressives were unwelcome and were rebuffed by the established leadership.

Progressives can expect the same reception now, so we must learn from our experience. The key will be maintaining coordination among progressives entering into the party at the local, state and national level. This means consistently “huddling up,” sharing experiences with each other, understanding what works and what doesn’t, and most importantly re-enforcing each other and maintaining solidarity. I called this the “Outside/Inside” strategy in an article I wrote last year. The effort in 2016-17 showed that progressives who enter into the Party will benefit from being part of a well-coordinated team that understands, and is motivated by, the importance of their mission: winning control over one of America’s two national parties so that the people can take back control of our society from the oligarchs.

That brings us to the other front, the one that defines the Democratic Party for the public: who are its elected officials.

First, it must be said, for all of the problems with America’s electoral system – and as Trump and his minions work daily to further pervert our democracy – the country does have an “extra layer” of democracy rarely found in other countries: the open primaries in the two dominant parties. Most progressives I know gripe about the two party system, and praise the multitude of parties in the world’s other “liberal” representative democracies. But almost none of those parties have open primaries where the public (not party members, or more frequently party committees) determines the candidate that will run in the general election.

Primaries provide a real opportunity to reset the party every two years and totally transform it within six years. This is the opportunity we must seize.

Detractors of the two party system will point to how the Democratic Party establishment gamed the system to block Bernie Sanders path to the nomination in both 2016 and

1. Yes, major shenanigans took place both years, but this is why coordinated Party entryism goes hand-in-hand with electing candidates that reflect the interests of working people – we can make sure there’s a level playing field.

The same is true for eliminating the primary instrument the establishment uses to defeat competitive progressives: big money. The only way that we can contain, and then eliminate, the influence of big money in Democratic Party primaries in a reasonable time frame is also through mass entryism into the Party to change its internal rules.

There is another barrier to electoral success that progressives must address: the frequent occurrence of too many progressive challengers running in the same primary race. This problem has resulted in electoral losses in districts where the combined vote for progressive candidates exceeded 50%. We need to develop a clear and fair mechanism through which progressives unify behind one candidate in every primary in every race across the country. This may seem like a stretch, but it should be easy to achieve through greater coordination between the national mass-membership organizations that endorse candidates such as Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, Progressive Change Committee (PCCC), People’s Action, Popular Democracy, Democratic Socialists of America and others.

This unified front, getting behind candidates across the entire country, will have the added benefit of alerting voters that wherever they live there will be a strong progressive candidate on the ballot. This will further nationalize the contest between the do-nothing centrists and progressives committed to solving (not just “addressing”) the problems faced by poor, working-and middle-class Americans. That is a contest progressives will win.

Both gaining control of the party apparatus and racking up wins in the primaries is about building power. With each victory more people will feel empowered. Together, we will become strong enough to change and renew the most influential country in the world, setting it back on the path to where we can, in the words of Bob Dylan “breath the air around Tom Paine.”

Currently, Democratic voters overwhelmingly support progressive policy positions, but the lion’s share of elected Democrats are establishment centrists. Fortunately, progressives have the momentum now, buttressed by a series of high-profile victories in the 2026 primaries. There’s still a long way to go. Our opponents have the money, but we have the people.

It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies; yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the world. – Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Now is the time for progressives to recognize our power and mobilize. Our movement is strong, our policies are popular, we can change American society for the better, empowering people and improving their lives, revitalizing our democracy in the process – but to achieve any or all of this, we need the Democratic Party. No other institution, no other vehicle has the capacity to deliver what needs to be delivered – but the Party must be transformed to succeed. The centrist-led Democratic Party has failed to vanquish Trumpism.

If progressives enter the party en masse in a coordinated manner and unify behind one progressive candidate in primaries across the country, we can have a Democratic Party that serves the interests of the people by 2028.

We are right on time to beat back authoritarianism, enact a popular ground-breaking social contract and renew faith in the American project – much like 96 years earlier, and the revolutionary spirit of 1776.

Coda: Applied Common Sense

Progressives must win the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party.

At this hour in our history, if the party remains dominated by its conservative neoliberal faction, an increasingly desperate public will seek an alternative – and in our two party system, that means a “populist” anti-democratic authoritarian GOP.

We can’t fall into that trap again.

A Democratic Party that serves the interests of the poor, working-and middle-class Americans – aka the vast majority of the population – is an imperative.

Anyone who has read this far understands that the idea of shepherding millions of people into a status quo Democratic Party is anathema to your humble author and all sincere progressives. Any progressive campaign for mass entryism into the Party must be predicated on an unwavering commitment to transform the party. As a show of public accountability, we must loudly proclaim this as our goal, complete with detailed plans to achieve our ends. This transparency will weed out the charlatans from our ranks.

At the same time, Common Sense demands every progressive, every democratic socialist, anyone of good conscience who wants to live in a free, democratic society – indeed, everyone who holds out hope to live in an America fulfilling its potential as the world’s first multi-racial democracy – must unite behind the Democratic Party for the 2026 midterm general election in November.

Yes, that means partnering with the very same “moderates” who reject the progressive policies supported by the Democratic base, are servants to big money and are despised by the public – but they do support the constitutional democratic republic and oppose fascism.

We cannot and will not make the same mistake that anti-fascist forces made in Germany in 1933, by splitting the opposition. We must do what Americans did in 1933. Build the Democratic Party into a pro-working class super-majority party and transform the economy and by extension the country – and this time no one will be excluded.

So, progressives must fight like hell in the remaining primaries to defeat the centrist Democrats but come October we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them to defeat the fascists (to the tunes of Woody Guthrie, Cardy B, Chuck D and Bad Bunny).

Then, on November 4th, we return to the task of taking over and transforming the Democratic Party so that we can win more than a temporary respite from fascism.

The 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights

Alan Minsky and Harvey J Kaye, Co-Authors

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) proposes a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights that will guarantee all people residing in the United States the right to the basic necessities of life regardless of their income, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or country of origin. Having a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights will establish that all Americans are entitled to:

1. The right to a job that pays a living wage
2. The right to a voice in the workplace through a union and collective bargaining
3. The right to comprehensive quality health care
4. The right to a complete cost-free public education & broadband Internet
5. The right to decent, safe, affordable housing
6. The right to a clean environment and a secure planet
7. The right to a meaningful endowment of resources at birth and a secure retirement
8. The right to sound banking and financial services
9. The right to an equitable and economically fair justice system
10. The right to recreation & participation in public life

Ten Pillars of A Rural New Deal

Alan Minsky, Anthony Flaccavento and Dave Alba, Co-Authors

• Rebuild farm, forest & food economies
• Reward work & ensure livable wages
• Dismantle monopolies, empower & support local business
• Invest in community & regional infrastructure
• Re-build small town centers
• Cultivate self-reliance & resilience
• Invest in rural health care
• Fully fund rural schools
• Make rural & small town housing affordable
• Re-localize rural & small town banks

For further information go to our website: www.pdamerica.org or scan the QR Code below: