These people are conservatives — period, end of file — who hide behind the “moderate” label even as they undermine policies Democrats have hewed to for half a century. But still, the results bore out her theory: For Democrats to win, they need to fire up Democratic-minded voters. What the hell did they do in the last few years?


For moderates, asserting their presence in the Democratic Party comes with twin challenges, however.

Nearly half, or 48 percent, identified as moderate. Democrats may move even further to the left or be positioned that way by this fall. Frankly, moderate Democrats appear to be too passive, uncapable of a win. Moderate Democrats blame progressive candidates for losses, but they can’t seem to blame moderate candidates for losses.

Following the progressives and conceding ground to them, that's it. The Blue Dogs who tried to narrow the difference between themselves and Trump did worse, overall, than the Stacey Abramses and Beto O’Rourkes, whose progressive ideas and inspirational campaigns drove turnout in their own parties and brought them to the cusp of victory. The impeachment is the last big testament to that - a completely stupid self-defeating act, which the Democrats still did because of the pressure from the progressives. But around 2000, more Democrats began to identify as liberal and fewer as conservative.