If progressives want to retake government, a full-throated war on public corruption is the key to everything.

elites who blow it on lavish lifestyles, park it in Swiss banks or invest it in high-end Paris or London real estate

It seems this would be a problem whether the "elites" were in the government or out.

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/14/heres_how_bernie_sanders_could_win_the_one_issue_where_hillarys_vulnerable_and_where_the_tea_party_might_be_right/