A Post-Election Message to Our Members and Supporters

Dear Members of the New Liberal Community,

First of all, thank you to all who worked to elect allied candidates in the United States. Across the country, New Liberals turned out to help make possible the election of city officials, state legislators, and members of Congress who will help advance our vision for an America that embraces the New Liberal agenda. This is essential progress that will reap benefits for all Americans. 

But while there were these bright spots down ballot, the looming specter of this past election was the reappointment of Donald Trump as President. A second Trump Presidency will have a profound effect on American politics and policymaking in ways with which we are just beginning to grapple. By all estimates, it will be the most formidable challenge to American liberalism yet. The incoming administration poses an existential threat to our core values – we stand resolute in our commitment to preserve the American Liberal tradition against all attacks to it.

Standing up to the Trump administration is just one part of the equation though. As an organization committed to political reform within the Democratic Party, we also have an obligation to make our allies more formidable. This election revealed some inconvenient truths about the Democratic Party and America as a whole. We have an obligation to grapple with the reasons why many Americans voted for the far-right and figure out how we can as a party earn back the voters that we lost.

As part of this, while most will try to spin how the election result vindicated their specific viewpoint, we believe that the moment demands of all of us to be honest about how the left-of-center fell short in our policy prescriptions and political approaches. The Center for New Liberalism will certainly engage in that introspection, and we hope others will as well.

Thankfully, we still have a lot to be proud of, and we believe that we are well-positioned for the fight ahead. Over the past four years, while we praised President Biden and the Democratic Party for their continually improving stances on issues we care about like housing, we were also willing to criticize the President and the party when they fell short. While others choose to engage in blind cheerleading, we recognized the threat of the illiberal, populist right, and did our best to warn other Democrats about the dangers of failing to address the biggest concerns of voters. 

Over the next year, CNL will be announcing a series of events, retreats, and initiatives to help address not only the future of the party, but how we as an organization can be most effective in charting a more impactful course. 

We will have a lot more to say as more comes out over the next few weeks and months. While the urge to have a knee-jerk reaction to the result is certainly tempting, CNL’s position is that a more thoughtful approach will reveal more impactful insights. We are laying the foundation of that process. In the meantime, we are excited to do our part to win on our ideas and to continue to fight for the liberal values we hold dear in the coming years.

Colin Mortimer
Director, Center for New Liberalism