This anon commenter at the Time Magazine blog got it right:
Liberals are only welcome in the Democratic Party when it is time to raise money and get votes. Other than that the party is run by gutless moderates, who prefer to play kissy face with right-wing extremists, rather than following up on all the promises they made to get elected.
If you want proof of that just look at how Howard Dean is being treated by the incoming administration. It is shameful.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If anybody can find a class of voter more maligned by the Democratic “leadership” than the Democratic base, I’d like to know about it.