I am a progressive, but also pragmatic- The fact is that we just don't have the votes all the time.

And yes for the MOST part, not voting blue is enabling a red win. 2016 in Michigan was a perfect example- in 2012 Green Party Jill Stein got 21k votes. But in 2016 she got almost 52K. You won't get me to believe Stein garnered nearly triple the appeal in four years. 30k votes more than in 2012 and Trump WON Michigan by 10k- Trump winning meant Roe v Wade is getting squashed with three SCOTUS appointments.

I voted Bernie in the primaries- Warren was choice #2 and who my wife voted for but yes I did vote Blue - I figured that we could work on

the issues that separated us from normal hillary voters while getting some part of the loaf.

Progressives - at least in my neck of the woods do NOT do the work- they whine about "rigged elections" (which gave trump ammunition for his bullshit btw).

And when they don't get their way the bail on the local Democratic Party- Progressives here are not seen as serious and are viewed as unreliable.

Local party meetings of 50-60 I'd have at least a dozen progressives- until something pissed of the ostensible progressive leader in the area by the national DNC- a factor LOCAL Dems have no control over so she bailed on the county party and took most of the others with her. Are you beginning to see the problem?

Their activism is pretty much relegated to standing on the busiest corner in the metro area and waving signs.

They won't canvass or knock on doors or campaign for ANYONE except the select person they choose to- Elections are a TEAM SPORT - candidates down ballot canvassing help those higher up and vice versa- But if you won't hand out literature and talk to people at their front door about the candidate for county commission and the candidate for US House as you campaign for you individual person (and they don't even do that), then you won't get a seat at the table.

I am frustrated beyond measure because we CAN move the needle.

I ran for congress myself in 2016. I had no primary challenger so I went to the local office for Bernie's primary in the area- the office leader (the same above who bailed on the county party), when I asked if I could address the crowd at place and get signatures on the ballot decided instead to grill me

" are you a progressive? are you a real progressive" and then walked away and ignored me MERELY because I was running on the Democratic ticket.

Again- see the problem? She didn't know me, didn't want to know my views. All she knew was I was running as a Democrat and her sole focus wasn't up and down the ballot- it was only BERNIE.

Some of the progressives are as cultish as Trump supporters.

And don't take my comments as full endorsement of all Democratic approaches. My grassroots campaing in 2016 was also undermined by a neighboring county party apparatus which pissed both me and my wife off.

in closing there is a facebook page for Grand Rapids Progressives United- I tried to join but to do so you have to answer a couple questions- first of which "do you believe Bernie was cheated out of the nomination" I said no (because he wasn't) and have never been allowed to join.