Mike Lux Event in San Francisco

On February 15, 2009, Mike Lux energized an audience of some 75 progressives at the Mercury Lounge in San Francisco.  Referring to his new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, Lux put events of the tumultuous recent past in historical context.  He spoke about the conflict taking place since the time of the nation’s founding between progressive advances for the common good and conservative retrenchments that favor the wealthy. 

Lux made the case that this is a time in which progressives have a great opportunity to address the serious problems our country faces: the economy, global warming, the health care system, immigration reform, workers’ rights, public financing of campaigns, and telecommunications policy.   He cautioned, however, that President Obama, whose style is to act as the "Conciliator-in-Chief”, will not be able do this alone. 

Lux argued that this is not the time for progressives to act as a complacent cheering section.  Rather, progressives need to be consistently assertive about the need for creative solutions that benefit all people and diligent in holding the Administration and Congress to account for their actions.

Mike Lux himself is no stranger to politics at the national level.  He is president of Progressive Strategies, a Washington-based political consulting firm; was a special assistant to the president in Bill Clinton’s first term; was on the transition teams for both the Clinton/Gore and Obama/Biden administrations; and is chair of the Board of American Family Voices. 

Asked by an audience member what causes Washington to be so dysfunctional, Lux’s somewhat surprising answer was, “the major media.”  He said the major media have been dedicated to advancing a corporate agenda rather than performing their duties to investigate and inform the public about what is really happening in the nation's Capitol.

Mike Lux has demonstrated his own initiative in informing the public: he is a regular columnist for the Huffington Post and in 2007 he launched the popular blog OpenLeft.com with Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers (a Commonweal Institute Fellow).

"Mike is a valued colleague and longtime friend of the Institute," said Commonweal Institute Executive Director Barry Kendall. "His book is important for understanding the triumph of progressive values through the course of American history. Since one of our main areas of intellectual inquiry is the development of successful social and political movements, including our own, this event was of keen interest to our constituents."

This event with Mike Lux was co-hosted by the Commonweal Institute, the Equal Justice Society, Netroots Nation, and individuals Matt Haney, Keith Kamisugi, Ellee Koss, Dexter Ligot-Gordon, Eva Paterson and Rebecca Prozan.

Click here to purchase a copy of Mike Lux’s new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be.

Video of Mike Lux's presentation.