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The lonely progressives Posted By Max Brantley on Sat, Dec 27, 2014 at 7:08 AM An op-ed from the New York Times has some resonance in today's Arkansas. It's by a Nebraska "progressive" and her participation in groups that soldier on in a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1936 and has an all-Republican congressional and state legislative membership. None of the Republicans acknowledges atmospheric change.

Occasionally, there's common purpose. Republicans have joined the fight in Nebraska against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Mostly, though, the old-timers of the small progressive community are the "royalty of lost causes." They lose, but they keep working. This year, though, was hard.

The evening after this dismal election, we met for our usual potluck. At first, a few of us tried to point out slivers of silver linings, but then one of our members said flatly, We are doomed. What followed was a sad discussion of our broken political system, big money in politics, Fox News and four more years of inaction on environmental issues. This was the first meeting in my memory in which I felt worse at the end instead of better.

The writer ends on an upbeat note with some small environmental victories and a couple of promising candidates. They'll soldier on. Surrender isn't an option.

Tags: liberalism, Republican dominance

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The lonely progressives