Election: Progressive label doesn’t fit Strickland

According to Cambridge English Dictionary, progressivism is a movement aiming to represent the interests of ordinary people.

Some candidates started their campaigns denouncing progressive programs like Medicare for All and Green New Deal. Seeing public support for these programs, they awkwardly back-pedaled and even began self-identifying as progressive. But their records don’t lie.

Marilyn Strickland, candidate for the 10th Congressional District, is a case in point. As mayor of Tacoma, she supported the methanol plant and did nothing to stop the boondoggle hazardous LNG plant.

She fought the $15 minimum wage and supported businesses’ $12 alternative, thereby diffusing the $15 movement. She also sided with businesses over workers on the issue of sick leave.

As the Intercept recently reported, with sizable campaign financing from police, Mayor Strickland looked the other way as Tacoma police used excessive force on people of color.

Refusing to support a single-payer system – the only path toward quality healthcare for everyone – she staunchly defends private insurance. Her interests are corporate rather than those of ordinary people.

Strickland was an excellent fit as CEO of Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce, an organization that prioritizes corporate profits over the common good.

Progressive? I don’t think so.

This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Election: Progressive label doesn’t fit Strickland."