Columnist E.J. Dionne On How To Unite The Democratic Party
Columnist E.J. Dionne has called on progressives and moderates in the Democratic party to unite under what he calls a banner of decency, dignity and democracy. Does he think that’s happened?
Guest
E.J. Dionne, columnist covering national politics for the Washington Post. Government professor at Georgetown University. Visiting professor at Harvard University. Senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Author of “Code Red: How Progressives And Moderates Can Unite To Save Our Country.” (@EJDionne)
Charlene Carruthers, political strategist, author and community organizer. Founder of the Chicago Center for Leadership and Transformation. Steering committee member of the organization Black Womxn For. Author of “Unapologetic.” (@CharleneCac)
From The Reading List
Excerpt from “Code Red,” by E.J. Dionne.
Copyright © 2020 by E.J. Dionne. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Washington Post: “Trump has worked a miracle for Democrats” — “Michelle Obama may hate politics, but she is a heck of a politician. In an extraordinary speech to the online Democratic National Convention on Monday night, she quietly but passionately dissected the ways in which President Trump ‘cannot meet this moment.'”
Wall Street Journal: “Joe Biden United the Democrats—It’s Not Likely to Last” — “Former Vice President Joe Biden has united disparate factions of the Democratic Party behind a message of defeating President Trump and rebuilding from the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Atlantic: “Sanders Supporters Realize Their Party Is Bigger Than They Are” — “The messages in the Zoom chat were snide at first, but not despondent. One person observed that the Democrats would rather listen to young people singing the national anthem than to their political opinions. Another noted that the event felt like a highly produced infomercial.”
Vox: “Progressives don’t love Joe Biden, but they’re learning to love his agenda” — “Progressive groups overwhelmingly favored confrontational leftists like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren during the 2020 primary campaign.”
Washington Post: “Opinion: Kamala Harris exposes the GOP’s radicalism” — “It has been quite a show as President Trump and the Republicans moved feverishly — and at times hysterically — from one attack line against Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) to another.”
New York Times: “E.J. Dionne Jr.’s Lost Hope for the Republican Party” — “E. J. Dionne Jr. has spent a career searching for common ground among opposing groups, in the hope that it can become the foundation of a politics of consensus.”
KALW: “City Visions: E.J. Dionne: How progressives and moderates can unite America” — “Will progressives and moderates feud as the country burns? Or will they unite to defeat President Trump and usher in a new era of reform?”
WGBH: “E.J. Dionne Talks ‘Code Red,’ And The Divide Within America’s Left” — “On Monday, journalist and author E.J. Dionne joined Boston Public Radio to discuss his latest book, ‘Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.’ The book centers around divisions within America’s political left, and how inner-party conflicts threaten Democrats’ ability to defeat Donald Trump in November.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
