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The Spectacle Blog
Over the past few years, liberals have launched a campaign to call themselves “progressive” because the liberal label had earned a negative connotation. Prominently, during a Democratic presidential primary YouTube debate back in 2007, Hillary Clinton was asked whether she would describe herself as a liberal, and she responded that she preferred the term progressive. More recently, during her confirmation hearings, Elena Kagan said, “My political views are generally progressive.”
Today, Gallup released the results of a recent poll which quantifies why so many on the left have eschewed the liberal label in favor of progressive. It finds that while just 12 percent of Americans say they would describe themselves as “progressive” and 31 percent say they would not, a majority of 54 percent are unsure about the meaning of the term. Thus, by using the word to describe their politics, Democrats can send a signal to small percentage of the population that embraces the term, while it will go over the heads most people — many of whom would be uncomfortable with a politician who described themselves as liberal.
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More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
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pete2| 7.12.10 @ 9:54AM
In Burlington, VT and the state of Vt, we know full well what the term "progressive" means. It means anti-business, overtaxing, over regulation, big brotherism , corruption, and general ineptness.
Eric Cartman| 7.12.10 @ 10:20AM
You guys should clue in the rest of the country!
Kevin| 7.12.10 @ 3:46PM
Funny, I thought that's what "Liberal" meant.
Alan Brooks| 7.12.10 @ 5:38PM
Progressive is basically material only-- you gain the world (longevity), but lose your soul (loss of dignity).
Wally| 7.12.10 @ 7:44PM
You're full of crap, Alan--as usual.
Alan Brooks| 7.12.10 @ 9:37PM
The patrimony is trashed, Wally;
I can see that--
but YOU can't?
Wally| 7.12.10 @ 11:41PM
I think YOU'RE trashed! Lay off the sauce, bud.
Pete| 7.12.10 @ 10:22AM
Clever term, that. To the uninformed, what could be wrong with someone who wants to "take this country forward" and has a "modern view of the world?" As #2 says above, the real meaning reveals that the joke is on you if you aren't one of the political elite or well connected to them.
Can you imagine one day if some MSM talking idiot took a moment and said, "Now it has come to our attention that some of our viewers don't know the meaning of the word progressive. So, here it is - it is essentially a worldview whereby a small group of people centrally plan and socially engineer for the masses according to their whims. At the root of their superior thinking is the notion that everything old, or 'traditional,' is bad and the extreme opposite which they espouse is by definition good. The key to understanding these people is that they really don't believe in anything, so long as money and power continue to accrue to them and their friends."
crustacean| 7.12.10 @ 10:26AM
When I was a kid and a short-wave radio enthusiast, I used to listen to English-language broadcasts from the government-operated propaganda organs of Radio Moscow and Radio Havana. Whichever thugs they were trying to promote as the good guys were invariably labeled "the progressive forces." 'Nuff said.
Bostinks2| 7.12.10 @ 10:50AM
Progressives=
Formulate foreign policies that appease The Nations enemies while alienateing our friends.
Pass legislation against the disapproval and will of the citizens, under the pretense of "we know whats good for the people" meme.
Passing 2000 page Healthcare bill stuffed without full debate and investigation of it contents, to discover after passing, that we americans lost the best medical care in the world, and will affect every citizen.
Pass a "stimulus " slush fund for everything democrat, leftist, Enviromental, Black Panther love, green, movement and organizations ideology while filling the pockets of the politcians pork spending.
Democrats consist most progressives, however There are Republican progressives, McCain comes to mind.
In my opinion, they closely align themselves to socialist/marxist idiology.
The list is extensive and all negatively selfish for those that carry that banner and label. BE very skepitcal of these types and investigate their intentions.
Stan Redmond| 7.12.10 @ 11:21AM
It's easy enough to explain what "progressive" means. We have one example after another of great leaders of the workers moving them forward. One need only read Marx, Social darwin theorists, Hitler, Stalin, Kim Il Sung, Mao, Pol Pot, Bill Ayres, Barak Obama... They all moved down the progressive yellow brick road to a worker's paradise. Only this time Obama will do it right. HOpe and Change...
ncatty| 7.12.10 @ 11:25AM
A progressive is proud of herself for voting democrat, and considers that vote an act of righteous charity, ranking right up their with building a habitat for humanity house, which she would never deign to do.
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.12.10 @ 11:43AM
They call themselves liberals...right up until the day they "arrive" at communism and dictatorship, and start murdering opponents like me.
Zack| 7.12.10 @ 3:19PM
you are a waste of a .15 cent bullet. get over yourself.
Nate| 7.12.10 @ 7:39PM
Shove it where the sun don't shine, loser.
Paevo| 7.12.10 @ 11:44AM
Wanna know why? Public education, why else?...
Paevo| 7.12.10 @ 11:46AM
If I hear another pol way "we are moving forward" instead of answering to why they screwed up in the first place, I think I'll throw up...
Greyledge Gal| 7.12.10 @ 12:14PM
If it if "progressive", it is good. And if it is "regressive", it is bad.
Translation: If it takes money from those who work for it and redistributes it to others who don't, it is good. If everyone has to pay his/her fair share (flat tax rate, for instance, with NO rebates to those who make less), it is bad.
I bet if Gallup polled to find out who knew what "regressive" meant, they would get a much higher number who know -- and the greatest number would be activist progressive liberal democrats and those they enslave.
chiefpayne| 7.12.10 @ 12:22PM
Hey, I can define it for you.
A progressive is a liberal socialist (or communist - take your pick) who doesn't want you to KNOW his is a liberal socialist (or communist).
There ya go.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 6:44PM
Ding ding ding! You get the prize, chiefpayne!!
Dummocrat=Socialist/Nazi=Progressive=Commie.
Nate| 7.12.10 @ 12:32PM
This is because "conservatives" have attempted to twist the word so frequently that they've managed to confuse people.
Look, folks. These labels have a limited but useful value in political analysis.
ALL cultures have something like a conservative tendency and something like a "progressive" or "liberal" tendency. A good analogy might be the breathing of an organism, expanding and contracting the lungs.
In modern American society the conservative tendency favors economic growth and traditional values, an inherent contradiction that often gives them trouble. Liberals favor expanding economic and political opportunity to groups that have traditionally been denied it.
Each tendency is necessary for cultural health.
ncatty| 7.12.10 @ 2:35PM
Why is economic growth and traditional values an "inherent contradiction"?
Nate| 7.12.10 @ 4:20PM
Because traditional values are often distressed by wild market-induced changes. Las Vegas is boom! boom! boom! when it comes to economic activity, but a person from small town VT or Maine might feel somewhat out of place amongst its casinos, bars, strip clubs, and brothels. Economic growth has one moral value: profit. Anything profitable is inherently good. This is not the conservative way. Indeed, conservatism began in England as a disgusted reaction against the Industrial Revolution and excesses of global, imperialist capitalism.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 6:47PM
How ya doin' these days, Herr Nate/Liberal Reader?
Hope you're doing better than the hapless, incompetent Progressive clown you put in the White house, moron.
Nate| 7.12.10 @ 7:18PM
SoCon -- You're calling me a Nazi? Fuck you, man. You're a racist douche bag with a computer.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 7:42PM
Hahaha!! Scratch the sweet, benign surface of a Liberal/Progressive babe and a little bit of Hitler hate ALWAYS bursts forth!
Love you, too, Screeder. Have a nice day.
Nick| 7.12.10 @ 8:17PM
Nate,
How many times do I have to tell you that you are a dazi, not a nazi.
You belong to the democrat Socialist Workers' Party.
JimH| 7.12.10 @ 12:35PM
I think the best term we can use when referring to such people is Statist. This includes anyone willing to use the power of the state to compel others, regardless of motivation.
Nick| 7.12.10 @ 1:01PM
This is an easy one.
"Progressive" means "evil."
Duff| 7.12.10 @ 2:26PM
This is interesting because, just as there are no longer conservatives in the GOP, there are no progressives in the Democratic Party. There is no significant difference between the two parties currently running the government. Sure, there are differences in rhetoric but in action the parties are nearly identical. The oligarchy that has been running the country for the past couple of decades (at least) has successfully redistributed wealth from tax payers to corporate donors (The Bush Admin's TARP, anyone?), chipped away at the Constitution (esp the 4th Amendment) and have pushed the country closer to bankruptcy all the while maintaining the illusion that there are, in fact, two parties. The media establishment helps by propagating "reporting" like the piece above. Perhaps the author should have read an actual definition of progressive then compared that definition to what the Democrats have actually DONE (not said) and examined who benefitted from their actions. I'll help out: it would have been discovered that said Democrats haven't behaved much differently from so-called conservatives and they've been helping the same crowd. It seems the American Spectator doesn't know the definition of "Progressive" either. I'll bet they think Republicans are "Conservatives".
Nick| 7.12.10 @ 2:53PM
Don't buy "Progressive" ins., either.
The founder is a big lib democrat and Bubba the pervert lover.
Flo is the love child of Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton!
Kevin| 7.12.10 @ 3:48PM
I had no idea that the vast majority readership of the American Spectator was completely ill-informed and/or insane, however, based on these comments that appears to be the case.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 6:48PM
Kevin, somewhere a rubber room is missing you.
JmsA| 7.12.10 @ 4:04PM
Ever changing semantics: Part and parcel of the leftist deceit and confuse strategy.
JmsA| 7.12.10 @ 4:06PM
Oops: Meant to write:.. deceive and confuse strategy.
deusdiabolus| 7.12.10 @ 4:08PM
Progressive means you like Yes and King Crimson. Also, you can kind of agree with "the other person" on certain issues that the rest of "your people" don't agree with. That of course means that you're a child-hating, drug-dealing, Communist atheist who will be one of the first cast into torment when The One True Deity comes back.
Akolyte01| 7.12.10 @ 4:40PM
Wow. This article was interesting, but the majority of comments absolutely reek with blistering stupidity.
Get your heads out of your asses dumb-nuts.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 6:49PM
"Akolyte" of whom--Stalin or Hitler?
Most likely both.
Elli| 7.12.10 @ 4:43PM
And this is why we listen to politicians instead of merely voting for a party, right?
It's not that hard.
SoCon| 7.12.10 @ 6:50PM
Watch what they DO not what they SAY!
Elli| 7.12.10 @ 8:39PM
Right. All I'm saying is that it doesn't matter what they call themselves, but what they do during their term. Every party has its fair share of nuts.
Rebecca| 7.12.10 @ 9:10PM
But the nuts, crazies and loons comprise a majority in the democrat party.
Sorry.
Karl| 7.12.10 @ 7:00PM
I'm amazed at how ignorant the vast majority of commentors appear to be. The mere mention of a term like progressivism is enough to cause people to descend into a tax-appalling, conspiracy-theorizing, communism-fearing frenzy. It just goes to show how powerful the American media is, especially for so blunt an instrument! For those warning of communist oppression, look around! You have absolutely means of control the actions of the capitalist elite. Should they decide it profitable they could make the campaigns of stalin and mao seem minor, and merciful. So Americans! Be aware of the fact that the economic policies of the "two parties" that dominate your political climate have little bearing on your economic future. Previous commentors were not trying to be funny when they said your fate is in the hands of an oligarchy that have been established for decades. So, economic policies aside, the best you can hope for is a liberal approach to social concerns. Schooling, medical care, infrastructure, you would do well to consider a progressive, liberal, socialist approach to these! It just means that you're not satisfied with the system that has dragged your nation into a state of convalescence! Inform yourself about what is going on in the world today. Not from one news source. From as many as you can find. Form your own opinions. Don't just spew conservative, regressive, theological jargon.
Wally| 7.12.10 @ 7:13PM
We have formed our own opinions, moron.
Progressives like you are a pox on our fair nation.
WhiteBikerTrash| 7.12.10 @ 7:59PM
How ironic that out of this group of people here, no one knows the history of how the "Progressives" became "liberals" in the 1920s and why. "Liberal" use to mean "Conservative" until the "Progressives" hijacked the term. Now they have destroyed the label "Liberal" as they did "Progressive" in the teens and twenties, but no one remembers, so they recycle!!
Nobama| 7.12.10 @ 8:04PM
At their core, Progressives are Collectivists/Socialists/Communists.
No difference.
dissident | 7.12.10 @ 8:37PM
I heard Axelrod proudly claim I think this past Sunday, in response to the accusation that the WH hasn't accomplished anything, that they have done much to advance the, quote, "progressive agenda". Rhetoric matters, and theirs is scary. Their language is socialist and divisive, they need to do things to advance America.
martin j smith| 7.13.10 @ 8:07AM
I am not surprised that most people do not know what the term "progressive " means because it means that they probably have not studied US history. However, the majority of Americans are voting on what is "progressive" political practice. This because what they see they do not want. However, I believe what is needed is a greater and clearer understanding of who the current Democrat Leaders are in terms of their ideology and their program. What it will mean for the nation and each individual citizen. Boy if there was money to fund brief "educational" advertisements showing the difference between the Liberal Left and Conservative agendas and their ramifications on people's lives that would be very useful.
Here is one example: What is the Tea Party--what do they stand for versus what does the Left stand for .
D. Singh| 7.13.10 @ 8:39AM
Sir
Liberals now describing themselves as ‘progressives’ understand that the right-of-centre commentators have converted the label ‘liberal’ into a pejorative adjective (by means of strength of argument supported by evidence).
This is a remarkable victory in the culture war, given that the bulwarks of the media are directed by socialist assumptions.
It is clear, in the culture war, that the liberals will not find succour by concealing their sinister agenda behind their new and favoured adjective: ‘progressive’.
But let us examine what image, into the cultural environment, that the liberal seeks to project by donning the cloak: ‘progressive’.
By using the term ‘progressive’ the liberal seeks to suggest that many of us who are on the right-of-centre are tied to old moral values (which have stood the test of time) and therefore we are stagnant in our thought and actions (which is far from the truth as the present culture war demonstrates).
The liberal projecting the image ‘progressive’ suggests that because traditional moral values have stood for so long in this country: they must ‘stink’ and therefore must not be wholesome and conducive for the good of society. But it is precisely at that point the Progressive (ex-liberal) becomes the victim of his own metaphor.
As Prof. C.S. Lewis once wrote:
‘Space does not stink because it has preserved its three dimensions from the beginning. The square on the hypotenuse has not gone mouldy by continuing to equal the sum of the squares on the other two sides. Love is not dishonoured by constancy, and when we wash our hands we are seeking stagnation and "putting the clock back," artificially restoring our hands to the status quo in which they began the day and resisting the natural trend of events which would increase their dirtiness steadily from our birth to our death. For the emotive term 'stagnant' let us substitute the descriptive term 'permanent.' Does a permanent moral standard preclude progress? On the contrary, except on the supposition of a changeless standard, progress is impossible. If good is a fixed point, it is at least possible that we should get nearer and nearer to it; but if the terminus is as mobile as the train, how can the train progress towards it? Our ideas of the good may change, but they cannot change either for the better or the worse if there is no absolute and immutable good to which they can recede. We can go on getting a sum more and more nearly right only if the one perfectly right is "stagnant".