Democrats Should Become a Big Tent Party Again

I am certain that this article is bound to tick off a few of my more progressive friends, but here goes anyway.  I think it's time for the Democratic Party to once again become a big tent party that welcomes a wider range of ideological beliefs. Not the segregationist Dixiecrats of the distant past, but those with a more pragmatic and centrist belief system (myself being one of these) should be accorded more acceptance and respect.  When Joseph Biden was running for president, he distinguished himself as the more moderate, centrist candidate...you would think that senators like West Virginia's Joe Manchin and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema were right up his political alley.  Instead, he has largely sat back and let his party's dominant progressive wing...the very group to which his primary opponents like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren belong...run the legislative agenda.  Although Biden is far, far better than his fascist predecessor (who wouldn't be) and I'll probably vote for his reelection should he decide to run again, I am disappointed in our president's performance in office so far.  His promise to be more collaborative in working out compromise bipartisan solutions to our nation's problems has never materialized...I had been expecting more of an open-door policy at the White House than it was during the previous three administrations, where the president would not only be regularly conferring with elected representatives from his own party but also with Republicans...including of course Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Instead, you see the House of Representatives marginally pass highly partisan legislation that they know in advance hasn't a prayer of getting any Republican support in the Senate...it seems that President Biden could exert some effective influence on Nancy Pelosi and the House to go in a more practical direction, but for some reason he won't.  If I were a Democratic candidate for the Senate or House in a traditionally "red" or "purple" state, then I would be embracing Manchin and Sinema's politics...we need more of them, not less.  And I get the frustration with obstructionist, manipulative partisan politicians like McDonnell...but I wonder how much I'm feeling is from media manipulation while also realizing that he stands on the side of democracy and against the scary fascist trend enveloping his own party, as well as against senators with their wacko plans like "my" Rick Scott here in Florida.  We need to help old Mitch stay in control of his party...as much I as resist saying it...by throwing some success stories out there he can use to support himself.  And we need more stable laws that aren't going to automatically be overturned every few years when the other party inevitably takes control. But that's just the way I see it and you're entitled to see things differently...