Would it have helped if we had been more progressive?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Well... would it have helped if unemployment was down to 8%? If GDP growth was 3% instead of 2%?

See, being more progressive isn't about posturing, it's about policy.

The progressive philosophy would have taken high unemployment as UNACCEPTABLE.

The centrist philosophy is to give the people just enough relief that they don't revolt while the economy magically fixes itself.

Those are not talking points, they are policy stances with real world implications.

Rephrase the "how could progressives have won when even blue dogs lost to candidates on their right?" question as, "would jumping on unemployment with both feet from the get go have made a difference?" and the picture starts to come into focus.

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On Edit: In case anyone still does not get this... government policy affects the real world. People often vote based on conditions in the real word.

Good policy is good politics.

If we had been more progressive the economy would be b-e-t-t-e-r and we just got creamed because the economy was w-o-r-s-e.