I mean...I don't feel like one. I never thought of myself as one. I like dogs and I like the color blue, but I've never wanted to be either. Most of all I've always been committed to some pretty progressive goals and ideals. I'd like to see every human being on earth living in peace with access to decent shelter, healthy food, quality health care, meaningful education, and all of the basic human rights and freedoms many of us take for granted.
Given this - I had always viewed myself as a progressive. In fact, until the advent of the internet I was never even aware that I might actually be a corporatist third-way DLC-lovin' blue dog centrist appeaser. I want to thank many here in this community who have helped me to see myself more clearly. I will no longer labor under the illusion that my values are progressive. The push now must be for "better" Democrats, and clearly folks like me don't make the cut.
The worst thing about my diaspora is that I have not even been invited to the coming great walk-out. I'm not really in that club either, Nope - I'm just a guy who basically likes our President and most of our standard bearers to varying degrees. I'm just a guy who still sees the Democratic party as the best possible tool to move our country forward. But I am also a guy who believes in our imperfect system. I do not begrudge others their votes. I believe that James Madison had the right idea when he said, "Ambition must be made to counter ambition" - thus my expectations of how change comes about (and at what pace) are clearly different than many here. I view progress as a life-long tug of war. Mostly a game of inches, with periodic moments of seemingly instant epochal change that almost always belie the decades of struggle that lead to them.
What I do not believe in is trojan horse progressive revolution. I do not believe in minority rule - even when I share values with the minority. Thus I do not believe that the true path to progressive change lies in electing a slate of true-believers to do the bidding of a self-appointed "base" too lazy and/or unwilling to get out and do the hard work of convincing their fellow Americans to share their values.
Nor do I believe that merely fielding more progressive candidates in every corner of the nation is going to make every corner of the nation more progressive. I view this as an abdication of our own responsibility to persuade. Given this, I don't hate blue dogs. In fact, I am happy for them. I'd like to replace as many Republicans in conservative-leaning districts as possible with them. And rather than dancing on their political graves, I am distraught at the loss of so many of them in the last election. Without them we have gone back to minority status in the house and just barely averted doing so in the senate. I liked having an impure majority more.
But foolish me...I am rambling. The point is that blue dogs like myself and most of the people who currently vote Democratic are the problem. Large tent parties allow too many undesirables in. I get now that what true progressives want is more of a small intimate affair - just you and a few friends.
Party on dudes.