When did moderate become a dirty word?
One definition of moderate in the Oxford dictionary is (Of a person, party, or policy) not radical or excessively right- or left-wing. To me that sounds like what was once called a liberal or someone who worked to get things done. Our nations founders set up a government requiring compromise to get anything done  three branches of government with a system of checks and balances. Congress has its own system of checks and balances in that to pass laws and a budget there needs to be agreement between the House and Senate. We have found over the preceding two centuries the American people actually believe in that system often electing different parties to control the Senate and House and rarely have we seen situations where both the executive and legislative branches are controlled by the same party, even then the judicial branch acts as a balance to what they can do. In the long run this system has worked. It works best when people are willing to compromise moving forward at a steady pace without veering dramatically to the left or right. Polling shows most Americans identify as either moderate or conservative, with a smaller share identifying as liberal. Those identifying more liberal identify as Democrats. Its important because the future of what both moderates and progressives want will be determined by how those Democrats running for election in 2022 deal with this information. To see the future we must look at how Democrats are voting in 2021. A column in the Washington Post titled, Moderate Democrats are winning elections, gave us an idea. It speaks to the winning ideas of progressives yet explains even Democrats who like progressive ideas end up voting for the more moderate candidate. Virginia has been the single greatest state-level success story for the progressive agenda in America in recent years. And it happened while Ralph Northam, another establishment figure who beat out a more progressive candidate in his primary, has been governor. It goes on to suggest moderates will still win. Probably not. But neither is he going to reverse any of that progress; his actions will be constrained by the context progressives created. Thats true at the national level as well, if perhaps not quite to the same extent. But its not surprising that progressives are disappointed that the politicians they most support, those in the mold of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are often falling short, especially when theyre running in competitive races. When it comes time to cast their ballots, Democratic voters keep deciding that, although they like progressive ideas, its safer to go with candidates with reputations as moderates.  The Democratic Party must face facts the majority of Americans dont identify with the left-wing of the Democratic Party even if they do support some of their initiatives. Yes! It was borne out by the 2020 elections. Many congressional candidates in swing districts and swing states lost having faced a backlash from the word socialist and from slogans like defund the police. They couldnt overcome them. Joe Biden ran as a moderate. He reiterated often he was neither a socialist nor did he believe in defunding the police but he had the benefit of running against Trump and managed to win. I grew up identifying as liberal. I was for universal healthcare when Hillary Clinton proposed it in 1992. I supported the Equality Act well before I came out when Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.) introduced it in 1974. I worked for human and civil rights and for the rights of persons with a disability. Today I am labeled a moderate by the Democratic left but I see myself as a pragmatic liberal supporting many progressive ideas but wanting to make constant progress and realizing it cant be all or nothing. We live in a difficult time with a Trump party, the old GOP, refusing any compromise. So we need to keep the House and add to the Senate in 2022. We need at least a few more moderate Democratic senators who will give us the chance to abandon the filibuster and open the door to real progress. Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.