Do any of you disagree that STRONG support for a Progressive would move our party left?

[Bonobo]

45. Thank you for your response.

I find myself in strong agreement with your first two paragraphs. Certainly with the gerrymandering and the focus on local elections, Republicans have cleverly entrenched themselves and were able to make bureaucratic changes that have made it easier to affect reforms in line with their agenda and I agree we must do the same. You are right that focusing on the presidency is a mistake and I thank you for that reminder.

However, wrt the term "left" meaning nothing, that is both true and not true. Like all words, it is meant to signify something and if the term has been watered down, we have politics, willful misdirection and bloviating all over the internet to thank for that. But it still means something to me and that includes, of necessity, a focus on economic equality (wealth distribution), and the very social issues that you are trying to say are being "peeled off" by the "top 10% vs. 1%".

I certainly do not think social issues are inferior in the least, although I do think that they are used somewhat cynically by some politicians as soon as it becomes clear that they are "safe" enough such as the relatively recent conversion on Gay rights by some D-named pols, etc. Economic redistribution is a much more dangerous position to take because it cuts across party lines. While all Dems will overwhelmingly agree that Gay rights and equal pay for women are the 100% right thing to do, when you start to advocate for serious economic reform and changing tax structures, THAT is when you put yourself in hot water with the wealthy of your own party. It is for that reason that I admire Sanders and feel gun-shy about the Clintons and their big money support.

So to sum up on my side, I agree with your summation 1 and 2, but your 3 seems strange to me. Because it appears to be the safe social issues that all Dems agree with but the rather cowardly adherence to the Wall street corporacracy supporting most of the inequality (social and economic -which I do not think as different as you seem to suggest).