If You Ain't At the Table, You're On the Menu

by: David Sirota

Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 16:00

These are two TV screen shots from Barack Obama's first press conference as president-elect. On the left, you can see that one of the people behind Obama is former Rep. David Bonior (D-MI) and on the right, you can see progressive economist Jared Bernstein standing next to Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod.

I point these two economic progressives out because it's good news that they are part of Obama's team. So is Robert Reich, another solid progressive (he's not in the screen shot). While the majority of Obama's team is are DLC-ish Clintonites and Wall Streeters, the progressive movement does have some representation, which is really fantastic. We are at the table, and as anyone in politics knows, if you ain't at the table, you're going to be on the menu.