My colleague Eric noted this story in the Morning Roundup, but it’s worth noting that the Congressional Progressive Caucus still doesn’t appear to be waking up to its potential to influence the Obama administration’s agenda.
As Roll Call notes, the president has given White House face time to all manner of Democratic klatsches, from the business-friendly Blue Dogs and New Democrats to the Congressional Hispanic and Black Caucuses. But the Progressives’ request for a meeting with Obama — which TPMDC noted a long while back, right here as well as here — has fallen on deaf ears.
Anyone who thinks progressives don’t need to assert themselves, that they can best help Obama advance his priorities by being supportive and avoiding the appearance of nitpicking or spotlight-chasing, should read the call-to-arms that TNR‘s John Judis delivered to the left last month.
By allowing Republicans to define Obama’s goals (his budget in particular) as the most liberal option on the table, Judis explains, progressives risk standing pat while the president gets pigeonholed as a debt-hungry lefty. Unfortunately, the Congressional Progressives have yet to speak with the unified, assertive voice that Ble Dogs and New Dems use. From Roll Call‘s report:
Progressive Caucus members are bolstered by the support of senior House Democrats — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was a member and her top deputies remain in their ranks, as do Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (Mass.), Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (N.Y.) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (Calif.).
…
But moderates [such as the Blue Dogs and New Democrats] have commanded attention by proving they will bring down measures that don’t accommodate their views –a tack Progressives, despite their numbers, have had a harder time pulling off.
“They’re generally not as organized and effective as some of the other caucuses,” one senior Democratic aide said. “You need to make sure you’re organized and effective, and then you have a place to complain.”
