Have you ever looked at the origins and classical definitions of "Liberal" and "Progressive"? They in no way reflect us or what we're about...we really need an identity that doesn't tie back to Cold War and pre-Cold-War connotations that we're beyond ambivalent about. Something forward-looking and reflective of our current mindset and objectives. It would help immensely.

Some questions I don't think we really have answers for that we need to answer for ourselves (and shouldn't be answered for us by the current office-holders or leadership) before we can answer "What happened to our party?"

What are the unimpeachable collectively-held characteristics of a modern Democrat?

What can't you believe and still be allowed in the tent?

What does our core coalesce around?

Who are we anymore? Who aren't we is just as important.

(Conservatism has the answers to these questions at-hand for them, but it took them decades of being marginalized to formulate and to purge the baggage of the history of their label...and I'd rather skip the 40 years in the desert. 20 interrupted years of Reagan/Bush governance was plenty thanks.)