Proudly. I got thoroughly sick of "Progressives" during this election cycle when I realized that when they gave up the term "liberal" they also gave up the ideals that go along with being a liberal. "Progressives" believe in compromise - they'll compromise any principle if they think it will gain them power, hoping that after they have power they will be able to take back the high road. It won't work. You can never win a moral battle by giving up your ideals.

I am liberal.

I do not fear facts, ideas, or dissent.

I value and embrace diversity.

I value and strive for a more tolerant society.

I do not need to drown out the voices of others to make me more secure in my righteousness.

I do not take "my righteousness" as an absolute.

Damn right, I'm a liberal.

Liberal is a stupid label whereas Progressive has an actual history and philosophy attached to it!

Go on..Google The Progressive Movement or Wikipedia the phrase and it will bring up a lot of proud history of reforms.

Now try to do the same with "Liberal" and see what comes up. Not much.

Liberal has no There there!

Was Mother Jones a liberal or a Progressive?

Again it just bears repeating that it was the Progressive Movement of the early 1900's that we are self-identifying with!

I can tell you exactly what a Progressive is and what they stand for and what they have done in the history of this country.

What the fuck is a liberal? What is the defining philosophy of the "liberal movement"? I mean, there just isn't any actual meaning or history to the label.

Let the "liberal" label fade away.

Hey jeb, who are you talking about? The democratic candidates? the electorate?

It just sounds better. The word 'liberal' has been festooned with the twin albatrosses of the exasperated, sighing Al Gore, and the skinny old ranting hippie. Maybe unfairly, but it is what it is.

Let it go and move on.

Check out this slightly faulty logic:

"The word "liberal" is a badge of pride. What is more embarrassing in 2008, to be associated with self-described liberals like Roosevelt and Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Jordan...."

Problem: the average person would most likely never label Roosevelt as a liberal or King. If they think of them as anything they would think of them as Progressives.

Most people don't associate the word "liberal" with good stuff, frankly.

Liberal implies over-doing it.

"That guy snorted coke so liberally he...died. Painfully and alone. If only he hadn't been so liberal with his drug use!"

Like it or not most people think of liberals in the exact same context as eco-terrorists burning down houses in Aspen or Dennis Kucinich.

Let's just all get on the bandwagon on go with Progressive.

You apparently only accept one definition for liberal, while listing several definitions of “progressive” and pointing out the perceived problems with each.

I don’t mind being called a liberal. Am I also progressive? Damn straight. My definition of progressivism is that associated with “Fighting Bob” La Follette. That progressivism advocated cleaner and more efficient government, regulation of corporations, support for organized labor, and social justice for a start.

I know what I believe, and it really doesn’t matter what label someone puts on it. But I find progressive more descriptive, because things do change. FDR was a liberal in his day, but bring him forward to today, and he would not be considered liberal at all on some issues, such as race relations.

To me, progressive means always striving to make things better for the country and its citizens. New ideas should be examined and be accepted if they are better, not because they are new. The job will never be finished, because it’s a moving target.

well, i always thought that progressive tied those of us on the left with you liberals/democrats. that way we could fight some fights together (aka obama) and feel united under one banner. if you wanna go back to liberal, i'll go back to leftist and those of us in this corner can resume our oppositional stance re: obama - support some of his moves, agitate for more left-leaning action on others (rahm emanuel anyone?). i was happy enough to be on the same side as you all for a little bit, but if you want to "reclaim" liberal i'm afraid that us over here won't be continuing on with you. i don't support nafta, i don't support the state of israel, i don't support taking troops out of iraq and putting them in afghanistan, and the list goes on and on. we are all progressive, but i am not a liberal.

Dewey was a Democratic Socialist. He supported Norman Thomas over FDR. He opposed eugenics and genetic approaches to understanding intelligence. He was an early advocate of participatory democracy. Dewey was more left than most contemporary liberals. He was a champion of the non-Communist Left and easily its most widely respected public intellectual from WWI (which he supported all too easily) to WWII (which he initially opposed). He stood up for what he believed, but he didn't get drawn into petty catfights, although some of his competitors like Rheinhold Niebuhr (the last great Evangelical lefty) tried their best. Dewey influenced the fields of philosophy (his work on pragmatism represents the last truly comprehensive school of philosophy), psychology (he helped organize the American Psychological Association) , and education (his semi-inscrutible progressive education, which many of his own followers misunderstand, and his advocacy for teacher's unions). Lind has a point, but he also needs to know his history. In matters of belief and temperament, Dewey is someone we (liberals) should know more about.

No no kiddies it is simply MARXISM

Let's face it: the Repugs succeeded in making the word "liberal" an epithet. I still remember, as a student in the 80's, listening to then-Vice President George Herbert Walker Howell Moneybags Bush insult liberals as "not Americans" and "liii-berrrr-alllsssss." He made the word sound like a curse.

Okay, the Repugs succeeded, but now that they're lower than dirt, it's time to proudly reclaim our word. Liberals have made America the advanced nation that it is. Conservatives have fought every advance, every step of progress. It's time to make "Connnn-Serrrr-Vaaaa-Tiivvvve" an epithet.

Damn conservatives...