For those who have a problem with Obama, don't take it out on local, state & congressional Democrats

[Monkie]

23. its getting the progressive base active before elections that is always the issue i guess

i hear you clearly on why it is so difficult, and where the problems lay, people feel betrayed by the "team" it looks like, the colours, and dont realise or are not motivated to realise that they can also chose how these "teams" are represented.
and you are right about the right too, look at how they started to fight back in the 70's and how long it took for them to capture the complete narrative. but they did not give up.

i think real progressives have a difficult choice, try a 3rd way centrist split like happened in the uk, and spend 20+ years in the wilderness, or really break hard with the DC "crowd" that people are so disgusted with, and which of those two is the scariest option?
i think the mistake that was made in the UK was that those progressives feared breaking with the legacy of blair to much, and listened to the fear mongers who claimed there was no place for progressives only for "right wing lite".
i think regular voters in that case will chose the "real thing", progressives need to trust that a anti-war, pro-labour, anti-corporate message will resonate across the political spectrum, and the fact that this space is empty, and can be "owned" convincingly.