[hga]

In this case it seems to be a brand equity issue. I gather that starting with Wilson, the label Progressive---that I'll note not exactly Leftist Teddy Roosevelt self-identified as---accumulated damage, and by the time I was politically aware, circa 1970, it had for quite some time been replaced by Liberal.

By 1988 George H. W. Bush was successfully using the word to attack Michael S. Dukakis (although Bush was rather liberal, as the word was used then, e.g. anti-gun, but Dukakis was outright radical, so it worked), and now it's back to Progressive. Or is it Forward! to it ^_^?