And some other short ones:<\/p>\n

\n
• “Limited modified liberalism?” [Apologies to RM Nixon’s “limited, modified hangout”]?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
  \n
  • Liberal-ish-ness?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n
    • Liberal-lite?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
      • Progressive-ish?<\/li>\n
      • None of these are really alternatives to “bi-partisan,” so I’ll have to try a little harder…I like your “basism” idea, but it sounds dangerously close to “racism,” which wouldn’t go over too well if people didn’t listen carefully.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
        • Outreach to progressives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
          • Reality-based strategy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
            • Keeping faith with progressives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
              • Partisanship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \n
                • Integrity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  \n
                  • Enlightenment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    \n
                    • Honesty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                      \n
                      • Liberalization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts.\u00a0 I’m open to more; you can add comments to this post or go to our on-line poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

                        Quite seriously, I can think of nothing that would put more healthy pressure on the president to give greater consideration to the interests of his base than, if every time he was asked about being bi-partisan, he was also asked about \u201ctouching base.\u201d\u00a0 Bi-partisan cooperation on the health care bill meant being sensitive to the Republican\u2019s desire for little or no change (as represented by their nearly unanimous votes against the Patient Protection and Affordability Act).\u00a0 Touching base would have meant giving serious consideration to Medicare for All.\u00a0 Then a compromise between the interests of Republicans and the Democratic base would have been something like the public option.<\/p>\n

                        The president ceded the public option without getting anything in return.\u00a0 It might not have been so easy had we been better at insisting that he \u201ctouch base\u201d besides being bi-partisan.<\/p>\n

                        The strength of the president\u2019s base in Congress is much weaker now than it was in the 111^{th<\/sup> Congress.\u00a0 However, by acknowledging the presence of his base as well as that of Republicans, he will help both himself and other Democrats in the 2012 election because it is the base that gives Democrats their identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"}

                        George Lakoff has repeatedly stressed the \u201cframing deficit\u201d with which progressives are constantly struggling.\u00a0 Whether it was before last November\u2019s election, during the lame<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,10,16],"tags":[698,491,221],"yoast_head":"\n