General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie demands that Democrats accept 100% of his platform? WTF? [View all]Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)"Moderate liberal" does not mean neither left nor right, to me. There's a spectrum that starts at the "center" line and goes left and goes right. To the left of center all the way to the far left line is liberal. To the right of center all the way to the far right line is conservative or Republican. Someone in the center, or a bit left or right, is a centrist.
Anything left of center, other than maybe a tiny bit, is liberal. Pro-choice, pro-environmental, etc., but the devil is in the details. One can be pro-choice but not have a problem with banning abortions under certain conditions, or with jumping through hoops to get one. Or maybe supports gay marriage, anti-gay discrimination, but be against allowing transgenders in the bathrooms for the gender they identify with. A progressive, OTOH, may fully support all those causes, with no exceptions or limitations.
It's a spectrum. A Democrat can be any of several things, but they are all liberal (to the left or liberal side of the center). No one would call me a progressive, I think (except tea partiers), but I am definitely liberal.
What you are saying seems to be that anyone who is not far left is not liberal. That's not true. Progressive does not equal liberal. Progressive is at the far left end of the liberal spectrum. Moderate liberals are at the right end of liberal spectrum; that is still liberal.