Press Release
11/05/08Third Way President Jonathan Cowan’s Statement on the Election of 2008
“Barack Obama’s election may have settled a twenty-year debate in the progressive movement that began in the aftermath of the 1988 election and continued through the Bush years: whether to move in a sharply ideological and rigidly partisan direction or to cast off in a new direction, free of 20th century labels and dogmas.
“As the leader of the new progressive movement, Obama has won the White House by explicitly rejecting ‘the old ideological debates and divides between the left and right.’ In both his announcement speech and his closing argument, he urged Americans to discard the ‘worn-out ideas and politics of the past.’
“On economics, national security and cultural issues, Barack Obama’s rhetoric is post-partisan, and his policies make it clear that he is who he appears to be – a moderate in moderate’s clothing. He will never abandon core progressive principles, but neither will he bow to orthodoxy in his quest to build a progressive politics for the 21st century.”
Contact: Matt Bennett (202) 775-3768 x212