December 24, 2003

opinion

ENERGIZED FIRST BY Tom Ammiano's inspiring 1999 write-in campaign, and now by Matt Gonzalez's amazing near-victory over the entire local (and much of the state and national) Democratic establishment, progressives are closer than ever to cracking open a system long dominated by political fixers and the interests of big money. So what's the next step? How do we keep the momentum going?

Progressive leaders should not wait for the next election or ballot initiative to build on this important moment. To focus, channel, and sustain the terrific energy Matt's campaign produced, I propose a progressive summit bringing together the many disparate groups and individuals that made up Matt's historic coalition of the extremely willing. A summit could feature a wide array of progressive movements, promote some simple core principles, and help give structure to whatever comes next. It could also help launch what the San Francisco left desperately needs: a galvanizing force, perhaps a loose citywide coalition, that can unite and mobilize progressives between and beyond ballot struggles.

Now is the time to show San Francisco – and the nation – that, as Matt so aptly put it, our ideas are better. A progressive summit, bringing together community and movement leaders as well as citizens from across the city, could help harness the chaotic inspiration of the campaign into something more lasting: a movement for a progressive majority, not just on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors but also increasingly embedded in the city's priorities.

This is a critical moment to move from a single electoral effort to a long-term campaign of citywide political education and organizing around a simple agenda including economic and environmental justice, community-driven planning, and truly responsive and accountable government. Matt's most important victory was proving that, in fact, we don't have to water down our ideas.

Our ideas – boosting the minimum wage, making mass transit more accessible, improving schools, pushing universal health care, promoting diversified and locally oriented economic development, vastly expanding affordable housing, and taxing wealth, among others – are not the province of a lefty elite. These are precisely the ideas that can benefit and appeal to the vast majority of workers, renters, the poor, and many of the middle class.

How would such a summit work? Above all else, it should be a festival of progressive ideas for San Francisco. It should not be any sort of hierarchical decision-making event or an attempt to iron out a narrow political platform, which could get messy and time-consuming. Just one or two days on a weekend spent exploring, refining, and promoting the great array of policy ideas coming from Matt's campaign and from other political and community leaders. For political newcomers, it could provide both some valuable historical context from movement veterans and a meaningful way to immediately reconnect with progressive politics, post-Matt. Such an event could also strengthen ties between Greens and progressive Democrats rallying around principles and priorities, not party labels.

The summit should be inclusive rather than exclusive in terms of both who comes and what is discussed. Among many issues, it could highlight forward-thinking ideas about homelessness, regional transportation and economics, and legally viable means of taxing corporate profits, stock-exchange transfers, and extreme private wealth. Without setting a narrow list of priorities, the summit can nonetheless lay the groundwork for broad resistance to our new mayor.

A progressive summit (or something like it) could be a powerful organizing event. In addition to displaying our many good ideas on a "big tent" alternative platform, it could connect thousands of people from Matt's 100,000-strong guerrilla army to the next set of struggles. It could also stimulate ideas about creating a broad coalition of progressive and neighborhood groups – including, potentially, a centralized e-mail action list of tens of thousands of people who are willing to protest, write letters, etc. – bringing some unity and continuity to our many movements.