huh?

Mark Bowden takes issue with Democrats calling themselves progressives.

Liberals were advocates of social reform, civil rights, disarmament and environmental protection... in a word, change. They believed in using government to further social progress... "Progressive" sounds like skim liberalism, as though you were in favor of change but not too much of it, only in baby steps.

I'm genuinely confused here. Does Bowden think that progressivism is closer to the center than liberalism? Liberalism is a tricky word, of course, meaning different things in different parts of the world. But as this definition points out, progressive is often used in the U.S. in the place of liberal due to the association of more centrist candidates like Clinton and Gore being labeled liberals.

What I just can't figure out is what leads Bowden to believe that progressivism advocates slower change than liberalism. Look at the positions of the Democratic candidates who have accepted the progressive mantle, Sharpton and Kucinich, compared to those of, say, Joe Lieberman. You want to talk about liberalism lite? Try Republican-lite.