What exactly is a “progressive” at this point?
.. the party’s next nominee for president must adopt certain policies, such as single-payer health care and a nationwide $15 minimum wage, to secure their support. Such policies will likely be sold by the press and Democratic leaders as a “Strong Progressive Agenda,” or something similar.
.. Yet such a description is vague at best and deceptive at worst.
.. the term was originally used to describe those who supported a more active federal government and expansive welfare state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, old-school progressives like Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson didn’t advocate for government control of the means of production, as many socialists do today.
.. The answer likely has to do with marketing. “Progressive” remains a nebulous enough term that the average voter won’t make any immediate historical connections to the phrase; the historical failures of socialism, meanwhile, are well documented.