Reply #16: The term has taken on new meanings lately. [View All]

[Radical Activist]

Historically, it did refer to those who are very liberal, especially on economic issues. That doesn't mean they are socialists. Dennis Kucinich is very liberal, but he isn't a socialist. The historical Progressive Party ran Presidential candidates who were to the left of the major party candidates, but they were not socialist. Although, many socialists did support Wallace's run as a Progressive Party Presidential candidate in '48. The progressive movement in addition to being liberal and reform-minded was more urban based than the populist movement.

More recently, many Democrats are using progressive as a replacement for the world liberal because Republicans have been successful in demonizing the word liberal and associating it with everything evil in the world.

Howard Dean is a moderate, not a liberal or a progressive. It is indeed misleading to call DFA a progressive organization because it has supported many moderate and even conservative Democrats. I've seen Dean supporters on this board and elsewhere try to redefine progressive once again in an effort to excuse the deception and cover their butts.

The term has recently lost much of its traditional meaning so I'm sure you'll get a lot of different answers. Everyone has their own idea about what progressive means these days and I even see moderates try to adopt it as their own.