Yes ... and no.

One can make a convincing argument that Trump is what you have when liberals fail to have a clearly articulated, relevant, progressive vision so that there's a positive, workable alternative on offer for people to choose. The poor, and even the middle class now, are desperate as they watch their prospects / hopes / dreams / aspirations recede into the realm of the un-doable. Like a drowning man, they will grope at anything that offers salvation. Liberals have simply failed to look like the best bet. Unless and until we own that, out of touch corporate Democrats will continue to run the party into the ground and be "owned" accordingly.

It's easy and tempting to blame the failure of progressivism on general stupidity but that's a cynical and self-serving misdiagnosis.

@mordant DO NOT confuse the Clintonite Democrats who have usurped control of the party with liberals. There is the Sanders wing of the party--the true liberals--and the Clinton wing--not liberal, not conservative, just phony. If Mrs. Crook, her henchie Debbie Fail Up and the rest of the Clintonite scum hadn't defrauded Sanders out of a primary win, we'd be commenting about President Sanders right now, and what REAL liberal policies are like, not how some NON-LIBERALS make liberals look like "not the best shot." "Corporate Democrats" is another name for Clintonites. DINObama was a Clintonite.

PROGRESSIVISM hasn't failed; CLINTONISM has. You haven't tried progressivism, you've tried to push progressives completely out of the discussion.

@mrzonk Well I DO NOT confuse those things. I worked for Sander's campaign and that's exactly what I mean when I say the Democratic Party does not articulate a progressive vision that is bold and attractive and truly viable.

True, I did not get bogged down in suggesting that corporate Dems aren't "true liberals", whatever that means. Litmus tests are a waste of time. I'm simply saying that those who happen to be in power in the party and who define the party, have defined it out of relevance. Whether that violates someone's definition of liberal or not, is beside the point, it's a failed platform. Sanders has moved it quite a bit leftward and the Clinton wing hasn't gotten the memo, and will try to hold onto power in the runup to 2020. If they succeed in doing so, then it will be the biggest political mistake in the history of politics, particularly in view of what happened already in 2016, which was already the biggest mistake in the history of politics.

@mordant In that case--that we both do not confuse the Clintonite scum who gave us the choice between Mrs. Crook and Donald J. Rump with liberals or leftists--we are pretty much agreed. They are every bit as responsible for foisting Rump on us as Rump himself, by placing their own lust for power above the will of the people. They have lost control of the house, the senate, the presidency and state legislatures. It is traditional that losers step aside, but even this scale of incompetence isn't enough to make the Clintonites do what's right. It is ironic. The Liberals--say what you will, but I will call them REAL liberals anyway--are the ones who can solve this ountry's problems, and they're the ones whom the Clintonites and the Conservatards are trying to push to the sideline. I've had it out with more than one Clintonite and they can't stand the light of day. Thus, I agree with you wholely that for them to get away with continuing to foist their sell-out policies on America would be a tragedy and might even lead to the country falling to fascism. This country = Weimar Republic, Clintonites = Weimars.

that is terrible, we have to seat here and just watch the world being destroyed by the likes of Putin-Trump irrationalism or plain ignorance.