Approval rating of Democrats in Congress signals major change is needed.

[Cirsium]

50. Not true

The only way we can define who is and who is not a Democrat is by how people vote.People who don't vote for Democrats are not themselves Democrats.

You say "many progressives don't" vote for Democrats. That is far less true than conservative Democrats (people who previously voted Democratic) subsequently voting Republican. The classic example of this is the 2000 presidential election results in Florida, which is often used to bash progressives Far, far more people who had previously voted Democratic voted for Bush than all of those who voted for Nader.

The risk of voters drifting off to the right and being lost to us is far greater than the danger of people drifting off to the left and being lost to us. Bashing progressives helps the Republicans, because it reinforces right wing propaganda. It is a false idea that we need to meet the voters on the right in order to win when what we are actually doing is leading them to the right when we attack the left and repeat right wing framing of the issues.

Are you really asking what Medicare for all would cost? What a bizarre comment. What sort of country "can't afford" to provide health care for its own people? It would not cost anything beyond what is already being paid for health care in this country.

It is the right we need to worry about, not the left. Pushing or even just accepting right wing talking points such as "we can't afford healthcare" is the greatest danger to future electoral success.