… Assessing the progressive wing of the party in the context of the presidential campaign takes two forms: issues and candidacies. On the issues front, many progressives feel optimistic about where they have made gains and where things are heading. …
What tempers this otherwise positive assessment of the state of the movement, and what worries some on the left, is the practicality with which many voters, including those who are most liberal on the issues, are approaching their choices of a candidate. Ideas may be moving in one direction, but the realities of the electoral map — the states likely to decide the outcome in November — are pushing some voters to put a greater priority on electability and therefore settle for a candidate who is less progressive. CONT.
Dan Balz, Washington Post