On Monday, journalist and author E.J. Dionne joined Boston Public Radio to discuss his latest book, “Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.” The book centers around divisions within America’s political left, and how inner-party conflicts threaten Democrats' ability to defeat Donald Trump in November.
"I wrote this book because I was worried, and remain worried, that progressives and moderates have a lot more in common than they want to realize, especially in this moment” Dionne said. “And that they might spend their time taking on each other instead of the two challenges that really confront them, from people who fundamentally disagree with where both of them want to move the country."
Those two challenges, "The Washington Post" columnist explained, are President Donald Trump, and a radicalized form of conservatism that extends beyond his administration.
"If [progressives and moderates] spend all their time tearing each other apart,” he said, "then they will not confront the fact that if they lose together by beating each other up, what we will get is no action on expanding health coverage… we will get no serious action in making college and post-secondary training more affordable, and we’ll get no bold action on climate change.”
“They have slightly different GPS systems,” he said, "but they want to go to the same place."
