Democrats have become more progressive

Washington Post - Free lunch for all students. Student loan forgiveness. Hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending to increase the use of cleaner energy sources and fight climate change. A massive economic stimulus plan that showed little regard for the budget deficit. Specific policies to address the effects of systemic racism. A focus on improving the economy, instead of education reform, to increase the earnings of Black and Latino Americans in particular. Bans on non-compete clauses. Universal tax credits for parents. Unabashed support for abortion rights, labor unions and gender-affirming health care. Opposition to mergers of big corporations. Sharp criticism of companies for imposing complicated and unnecessary fees on customers. The appointments of civil rights lawyers and public defenders to federal judgeships instead of corporate lawyers and prosecutors. The removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and a major rollback in the use of airstrikes abroad as part of antiterrorism efforts.

Those are some of the policies and political stances of President Biden, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, all of whom are generally considered part of the Democratic Party’s center-left wing, as opposed to its more progressive bloc. These views either weren’t pushed hard, or weren’t held at all, by President Barack Obama and the Democratic governors who were in office a decade ago.