Ran his entire campaign as "I'm totally a progressive"
The last two months: I'm so not a progressive, you guys!
He's flipped his stance from his campaign to now on several issues. The evidence is in this thread .feel free to read back.
I think that depends very much on how you define "progressive". He built his reputation on his role as mayor in the rejuvenation of a dead industrial town, including working as a mediator alongside the town police to de-escalate situations and prevent arrests, and using his mayoral office to conduct same sex marriages despite it being illegal in Pennsylvania. Those are key tenets of what is generally considered a progressive position in the modern political world. He also stopped a black kid at gunpoint because he suspected him of committing a crime, which is a decidedly unprogressive action.
I don't think it's contradictory to think that he might look at some of the positions that modern progressives are taking and say "that's not who I am" - I like to think I'm fairly progressive and I do that too - while still considering him to be true to who he always was. The fact that you and others don't like some of the things he says and is is entirely reasonable, but I think he is pretty honest. He wasn't a polished political operator before his stroke and he definitely isn't now, but I respect his willingness to say what he thinks rather than what is most politically expedient to say.
