Months after voters handed them an unexpectedly stiff loss — widely interpreted as a thorough repudiation by the electorate — Democrats are confused about which direction to turn. Or, more accurately, party leaders seem committed to going further in the progressive direction while the rank and file would like a whole lot less of that.

Writing for The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait noted earlier this month that the recent Democratic National Committee meeting to select new leadership featured intricate explanations from the chair about gender-balance requirements for incoming officers. This occurred against a backdrop of “a land acknowledgment, multiple shrieking interruptions by angry protesters, and a general affirmation that its strategy had been sound, except perhaps insufficiently committed to legalistic race and gender essentialism.”