This year for the first time in her life, my friend Donna, a 49 year old married woman, was truly engaged in the electoral process. While in the past she voted regularly, this election was different. Donna contributed to candidates’ campaigns, volunteered to make phone calls, and worked to get out the vote on Election Day. She was devastated when John Kerry and Betty Castor lost. Donna hasn’t read a newspaper, watched the news or discussed the election with her Republican brother-in-law or any Bush voter since election day.

Progressives, like Donna, fear that most of the progressive policy gains of the second half of the 20th century will now be reversed. With the conservative wing of the Republican Party in control of all three branches of our government, millions of progressive Americans, Democrat, Independent and Republican, have every right to be concerned.

For the many Progressives wondering where we go from here, the answer is --we must rebuild a Progressive America. Thanks to a number of progressive visionaries, that process is already underway. But make no mistake; this will be a long process. For success, we need a strategy. As we proceed, we must not be afraid to admit our mistakes, adjust our course when necessary, try new methods and take risks. As important, we can not abandon our core values.

We are faced with an immediate challenge – prevent the dismantling of existing progressive policy and limit the passage of restrictive policy. This week restrictive reproductive health care policy was attached to an omnibus spending bill. It’s just the beginning of a difficult struggle.

Vigilance will be essential. More than ever before, we need to support our advocacy organizations and start new ones where there are voids. Our advocacy networks must be expanded to reach more people and present a stronger, clearer and more effective voice. In addition to formal advocacy organizations, family, friends, co-workers and community activists, must join together to build a second tier of local and statewide rapid response support teams that can act outside of Washington, DC, whenever necessary.

Progressives must find our voice and refine our message. The conservative Republican ideologues are busy taking the moral high ground of the values discussion. For too long, progressive advocacy groups and the Democratic Party let the right wing Republican conservatives create labels and frame the argument. We can no longer do that. It’s time we take the offensive and present a progressive message. That doesn’t mean that we co-opt the Republican message.

For many years Democrats were the party of the people, standing for the working men and women and for all families. We supported an open society with opportunity for all people, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation or ethnic background. Our values have not changed. Somehow along the way, we lost our voice. Rhetoric and sound bites replaced sound policy discussions.

Today and in the future on the road to a Progressive America, we must offer clear alternative solutions to the problems facing people and communicate the elements and essence of those solutions in concise, direct language. If we are to win the respect and confidence of the people, they must hear from us. We must convince them that we can solve the problems that concern them and that we are sound, responsible leaders.

In recent years, the media has failed miserably and we haven’t held them accountable. We can’t afford to let this slide any longer. We can’t be satisfied until our solutions become an integral part of the public dialogue.

Without any further delay, the Democratic Party should develop a long term strategic plan, cultivate strong Democratic leaders and build a large more effective ground team. That means attracting and recruiting more creative, bright progressive thinkers to help rebuild and restructure the Democratic Party.

The national party organizations and state party organizations, like that in Florida, must put in place party leadership committed to this.

On the road to a Progressive America, we must identify, recruit and mentor a new network of Democratic leaders. Starting at the local and state level, we can build a pipeline of experienced, strong policy makers to propose better solutions to the problems we face in our cities, states and the country. These Democratic leaders will become our future national leaders and pave the way for future Democratic leaders to follow.

In the 2004 election, we saw an unprecedented turnout. 56 million people turned out to vote for progressive values and Democratic candidates. Hundreds of thousands volunteered their time. Thanks to them, we now have a foundation for building a larger more effective ground effort.

As you can see, there is much work to be done. Progressives, like Donna, must re-engage to help rebuild a Progressive America. Our children and grandchildren are depending on it.
 

Shellie Sachs Levin is a licensed Florida attorney who practiced law in Southeast Florida for 25 years.  In 1997, Ms. Levin left the practice of law to co-organize community initiatives and to help elect Democratic candidates to local, state and federal office.  Since 1997 Ms. Levin has worked for EMILY’s List, the largest independent political action committee in the country.  The mission of EMILY’s List is to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.  Ms. Levin currently directs the EMILY’s List Majority Council and Major Gift programs in the Southeastern United States.

In addition to her work with EMILY’s List, Ms. Levin has worked as a fundraising consultant for Democratic pro-choice candidates running for federal, state and local office.  She has recruited candidates throughout Florida and developed candidate campaign plans and strategies for Democratic candidates running for state and statewide offices. 

She has spoken on the Basics of Fundraising at Florida Regional training sessions throughout Florida, headed private training seminars and helped non-profit boards with Capacity Building.

In 1998 Ms. Levin organized the successful community effort to prevent the merger of Baptist Health Systems of Florida, a major community medical system, with Mercy Hospital a Catholic hospital in Miami-Dade County.           

Ms. Levin currently serves on the National Women’s Reproductive Healthcare Advisory Board. She is a former member of the Board of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce for Miami-Dade County, where she was the Legislative Affairs Chair, the Miami-Dade County Commission on the Status of Women, the Board of the Women’s Emergency Network and the State Public Policy Committee for AAUW Florida.    

She has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from Nova University Law Center.

Ms. Levin resides in southwestern Miami-Dade County, Florida with her husband,  6 dogs,  3 cats and 4 horses.