2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Congratulations, Sanders DNC delegates, you just killed his movement and his revolution. [View all]MellowDem
(5,018 posts)I'm talking about are progressives in general. The party is becoming more liberal, and it's certainly not just young white Bernie supporters, but many people feel he represented the policies of part of the progressive ideal in ways few nominees have in a long time in the party. The US is not a very progressive country. And there is disagreement on how to move forward. Many progressives think exactly what you say of the Bernie or Busters, and I agree with it, but that progressive section of the party isn't going away, and there is a vocal portion that will continue trying to push the Democrats to the left.
The Democratic position on many parts of those issues is indeed similar (not the same), and in some cases the same, as the GOP, these are big areas where some progressives see a lot of overlap between the parties, unlike gender issues, or specific minority issues, where the difference is much more stark. And that is where some progressives will focus and push Democrats. Ignoring or downplaying the overlap is expected when trying to get unity, but it's there.
It's not surprising to me that different demographic groups have different priorities, but the progressive movement in the Democratic Party will keep growing regardless, and amateur activists have always been a part of the process. I don't think progressives are united at all, I think the stark racial divides in support for candidates reflect part of that, and don't think that's easy to do, especially in a two party system, but they aren't going anywhere, and they aren't new either. Progressives will reflect the same segregation, divides, and misunderstandings of society in general, and any united progressive movement would have to address all of those issues first.