Ever since I launched my campaign for president, I've argued that the election before us is a choice between the past and the future. Tonight, we'll get to see exactly what the past looks like by tuning into the Democratic presidential debate. There we will see five candidates who call themselves "progressive," yet who advocate policies that stand directly in the way of our nation's progress.
We will see outdated politicians who believe new economic innovations should be stifled by more regulation. For example, they believe companies in the on-demand economy, such as Uber and Airbnb, are a threat rather than an opportunity. They believe a revolutionary technology like hydraulic fracturing, which has unleashed American energy and created thousands of jobs, is a risky practice that must be stopped. They believe the Internet needs more government oversight in the form of net neutrality.
We will see a group of 20th century politicians who believe the way to fix our outdated institutions is to pump more money into them rather than reform them. They believe we can spend more on the higher education system of the 1950s without updating it for a new century. They believe we can lean on retirement programs from the 1930s without saving them for future generations. They believe expanding the safety net programs of the 1960s will be enough to help the struggling escape their circumstances.
And the sad irony is, while they consider outdated ideas of the past to be progressive, they consider timeless ideas of the past to be regressive.
Marco Rubio, Rubio Campaign Press Release - What You'll See Tonight at the Democratic Debate Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/325819