Officially there are 2 political parties in our country, the Democrats and the Republicans. But I think there are really 3 parties: the Progressives, the party of No, and the party of Timidity.
The progressives such as the people who take part in DKos, are the ones who want to change things. Right now, a lot of things need changing. The party of No wants to sabotage any changes. Some of them look like they would rather have huge disasters that would make an excuse for them to return to power ( I think Ralph Nader had the same sort of motivation). They want to return to a mythical past of religious patriarchy, supposed free enterprise, and world domination. I think the rank and file supporters of this party are motivated by social conservatism rooted in conservative religion. I don't think most of them realize that the end result of supporting the people they support would be a corporate oligarchy.
The party of No lost power, but the progressives have been frustrated by the lack of progress in many areas. The reason is the party of Timidity. These are the so-called moderates, the "centrists". They are the ones who don't even want to debate single payer health care. They don't want to mess with the financial system too much. They don't want to withdraw from foreign wars, something scary might happen. They might be willing to tinker around the edges, but can't deal with looking at more fundamental changes, even when the system has been proven not to work.
The party of No is purging the Republican Party of members of the party of Timidity. They want a society where you are either with us or against us.
The members of the party of Timidity have various reasons for being a part of it. Some may have been bought off by the corporate world. The amount of campaign fund raising we have all seen should show just how desperate politicians are for campaign funds. The thought of losing any source of funding must terrify the short sighted or selfish politician. Some might think that by just making some adjustments we can get back to the good old days without having to make any risky experiments. I don't think they realize that many of the problems we have are fundamental problems with the ideas behind the economy and national security. Some might have been hanging around with the people who are influential in government and the economy, and would almost feel like they are betraying their friends if they push for big changes. Some have a vague feeling that they have to be seen as in the "center" to succeed in politics. To them I would recommend studying the career of Paul Wellstone. Independents respect those who are clear in their goals.
Barack Obama is a member of the party of Timidity. He seems to want to go back to the days of the Clinton administration, assuming somehow that if he does not fool around with interns he would avoid the firestorms that hit the Clinton administration while duplicating its economic successes. He also seemed to think that if he just got people together they would work together to solve problems for the common good. This might work if everybody involved had an open mind and negotiated in good faith. But that is definitely not the case. But the President seems to be afraid to take on the fundamental problem of the financialization of the economy and the imperial overstretch of our foreign policy. He was afraid to stake out stronger negotiating positions at the start to get a better result after the inevitable compromises.
Part of the problem is that the party of Timidity just does not know what to do about our problems. The correct response to this very common situation should be to make an effort to try to find new answers. But right now the most common response is to not do anything. Moderates could perform a great service if they honestly vet possible solutions rather than shy away from them, and try hard to creatively think of alternatives. No one, including progressives, has all the answers. In fact, I think that even the progressive movement has a ways to go before we can fully understand how to put together an economy that has both long term stability and full participation of everyone in the middle class. But shrinking into our shells is not an answer.
The party of Timidity can sometimes be pushed into action, for good or for ill. In the 60s, when the civil rights movement used television to bring the reality of the oppression of African Americans into everyone's living room, the centrists allowed the civil rights laws to be passed. After 9/11, the shock of the horrible spectacle of the Twin Towers allowed the Bush administration to do the Iraq invasion and bring the stain of torture to official government policy.
What will happen if our current crisis gets even worse? During the Great Depression, we were lucky enough to end up with Franklin Roosevelt. If the present crisis gets worse, we might not be so lucky this time. That is why the party of Timidity might be dangerous if it allows the current crisis to get worse.