I'm a Liberal, Hear me Roar!

You should definately give this Nation column by Eric Alterman a read. The fact is, as Alterman points out, that the positions most Americans hold on the major issues are often on the liberal side of the coin. While I don't have a huge problem with the word "progressive", in fact I like it, and its meaning very much, the word that describes the politics of a center-left Democrat is "liberal". In other words, I agree with Matt Yglesias when he says that "liberalism" is a political philosophy, whereas, "progressive" is a word for a coalition that puts liberalism into action. That being said, it's comforting that in this election Democrats are comfortable calling themselves progressives, as opposed to 2004 when Kerry and Edwards were going out their way to explain how conservative they are.