Procrustes Stretched
"intuition and imagination and intelligence"
Ideologies are malleable things. Consider only the conservatives assumption they are now classical liberals (whatever that is) because they love freedom (whatever that is). I won't go into what that really stands for but ideologically it screws up understanding what liberalism really is about or its history in thought.
I don't think there is a left any longer in the US. How many times do you hear about poverty, loss of worker rights, or the situation of those in need vis-a-vis the wealthy? Almost never in MSM. I personally look at the 'left' as those who honestly see the situation and propose ideas that are too radical for implementation for a variety of reasons. Gradually though these ideas often surface and are accepted, but the process is slow.
Labels have great power and while we have no left, the right calls anyone they disagree with leftist or liberal. These words have become synonymous in current lingo and 'left' is always communist so that is bad stuff. And liberal is such a bad label we have become progressives because lord knows those liberals are bad too. lol Any way I strongly suggest this book for those interested in understanding ideology.
Amazon.com: Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions): Michael Freeden: Books
I like it.