Is it possible for a Democrat who's a "moderate" to also be "progressive"?

[Nye Bevan]

7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, it is possible for a moderate Democrat to be a progressive.
	3 (43%)
	No, that is impossible. The two are mutually exclusive.
	4 (57%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. i have found that most moderates have no idea what that means.

so when people say they are moderates, i ask them to clarify what their positions are.

[Scootaloo]

2. "Moderate" and "Progressive" are different political descriptors

"Moderate progressive" is political nonsense, because you're taking two different positions on the political scale and trying to glue them together. You might as well be a radical conservative*, or a liberal totalitarian.

*(I know this is a popular term, but the proper term would be reactionary, not radical.)

[ProgressiveVC]

5. ..Radical conservatives

Khmer Rouge comes to mind..

[Scootaloo]

7. The Khmer Rouge were Nationalists, with a dash of Marxism. Essentially Stalinism

[ProgressiveVC]

10. Fair enough - but

I think they are one of the few groups able to meet the requirements of Radical Conservatives:
they used tools of revolution (in the marxist sense) to attempt a highly controlled, back to the good ol' agarian days, society. ... If there every was a misreading of Marxism and the Urstaat, its the Khmer Rouge!

[deutsey]

13. That's why I never say "The Reagan Revolution"

I say "The Reagan Reaction," which to mind is much more accurate.

[Attorney in Texas]

3. No. Back when the Democratic Party was - as a whole - much more progressive (FDR through LBJ) it was

possible the fall within the moderate center of the party and still advocate a very progressive agenda.

Today, the party has drifted so far from its progressive roots (Bill Clinton, for example, governed well to the right of Nixon) that those in the moderate center of the party today are better categorized as "conservative" contrasted against the rabid-right-wing-reactionary Republicans and not properly categorized as "progressive."

[Marr]

4. I've never been clear as to what a 'progressive' actually is, to be honest.

As far as I can tell, it's a marketing word for people who want to run as Democrats, but only use the word 'liberal' as a pejorative.

[Attorney in Texas]

11. Progressivism is a belief that the government should be a vehicle for improving society by making

it more just, more equal, more fair, and safer for all.

There was a political party called the "Progressive Party," and it was founded by T. Roosevelt after he left the Republican Party (this was during the transition from the period from Lincoln's presidency through TR presidency when the Republican Party was the left wing party in the US to the period from FDR's presidency through LBJ's presidency by which time the Democratic Party had become the left wing party).

Government regulation over industry to impose safety standards, fair labor standards, environmental standards, etc. is a classic progressive goal (it is also -- by the way -- a socialist goal).

Classically, liberalism is a belief that the goodness of the individual is best advanced through the recognition of democratic processes, political freedom, and individual civil liberties.

The Bill of Rights is a classically liberal document.

Most often, liberalism and progressivism follow the same path, but sometime they don't. For example, gun control is a progressive goal but it is not a liberal goal.

If you want to shrink government, reduce taxes, and get the government out of the affairs of business, you are NOT a progressive.

If you want to create additional hurdles at the ballot box (by Jim Crow laws or their modern equivalents), shut down the Occupy Wall Street movement, and lock away Julian Assange and throw away the key, you are NOT a liberal.

If you are BOTH progressive AND liberal, you are probably a Democratic Socialist (don't worry, we have groups who can help you come to terms to this realization and help you come out to your family and friends).

[Autumn]

6. We talking alternating weeks here depending on the conversation and who, the democrat is talking to?

I'm gonna say no. A persons record is there to see. A democrat is a "moderate" or a "progressive". And if that changes week from week, well that's another word.

[msongs]

8. so self proclaimed moderate republican presidents cannot be progressive? nt

[Attorney in Texas]

12. Not in today's Republican Party. 50 years ago, maybe; 75 years ago, definitely; 100 years ago the

Republican Party WAS the progressive party and the Democratic Party offered the conservative alternative.

You could make the argument that Romney was a somewhat progressive Republican governor, but he had to disavow that progressivism to win the Republican nomination.

[Agnosticsherbet]

9. Please provide a political description of modern moderate and progresive

Without those, I am not sure what you mean.

[FSogol]

14. All of these terms vastly oversimplify people and their positions.

There are moderate people who are very progressive on certain issues and vice versa.

Humans are much more complex than the black and white terms thrown out.