2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary backing out of Debate PROVES she'll back out on her Progressive policies. [View all]Tal Vez
(660 posts)When I was younger, the Democratic party was extremely divided. Part of the party was leading the charge to repeal the worst segregation laws imaginable and another very important part of the party was promising "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." The losers became Republicans very soon after a Southern Democrat signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Certainly things change within parties over time, but they actually change more quickly when a party is on a winning streak. FDR's New Deal was a product of major electoral successes. LBJ's Great Society began during a year (1964) when the Democrats were in the process of winning with a huge majority.
It's been my experience that if you want the Democratic Party to change, then you should help them to win and the larger the majority, the better. When a party loses, it often becomes more cautious. I can think of a few exceptions (Goldwater, McGovern and Trump), but usually the parties respond to losses by moving closer to the center.