The quote above is from The new, updated, and improved Daily Kos Rules of the Road, 2016.
It’s funny, sometimes, the things you don’t really notice until somebody rubs your face in them. When I joined, and up until lately, Daily Kos has been, clearly stated, a site for Democrats. Moderates, progressives, liberals — anyone who wanted to carry the Democratic party forward. That was the site I joined — an umbrella for Democrats. And up to fairly recently, that is what it’s been.
It has created, over the years, a community that is joined primarily under a single category — Democrats. Democrats of all stripes and varieties, from not-quite conservative to not-quite-rabidly-leftier-than-thou. And where community moderation was an ongoing experiment, that tended, like the site, to work pretty well. Mostly.
Today, this is the statement in place. The change was made between October 12-13, 2021:
SITE PURPOSE
This is a site for progressives.
That’s the fundamental premise underlying all expectations about posting, commenting, and interacting at Daily Kos. As progressives, we believe that the best way to build our coalition is through the Democratic Party—and we are fighting to make it a stronger, more effective, more just, more forward-thinking Democratic Party. We are here to connect, unite, and work together toward this common purpose, to elect more and better Democrats, to advocate for a more equitable country, and even to socialize among like-minded friends.
Such a small change, overall …
And yet — I can say pretty closely what Democrat means — someone who supports and votes for Democratic Party candidates. There’s a little wiggle room but generally not enough to support a fight over the term
Can you tell me what Progressive means, in such a way that at least three out of five members of the Daily Kos community will fully agree with you? For some, it is others who support their righteous causes to the same degree as they do. For some, it means supporting all Progressive causes (and there’s an infinite loop of a definition for you!), and for some it means supporting a particular politician or three to the bitter end, or a particular ideology, or, more usually, protesting against some particular cluster of ideas, people, or ideologies rather than for something. Moderation’s been getting a little harder, lately, IMHO.
If the site purpose is to be changed it should, arguably, be changed to make it at least as clear and unambiguous as the previous one. I submit that this change has not accomplished that, and that it should be walked back until a clearer statement of purpose can be agreed upon.