Even symbolic votes on the growing roster of progressive expectations could create political headaches for Democrats seeking the White House in 2020. That means Medicare for all, debt-free college and a $15 minimum wage will remain more the subject of liberal aspirations than a real shift in the nation’s policies.

President Donald Trump is already trying to tar progressive ideas as ballot-box poison, denouncing single-payer health care as Venezuela-style “socialism” (never mind that he endorsed it in 2000) and saying Democrats who want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement must have a “death wish.” Democrats may have trouble uniting even on repeal of Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut, which received not a single Democratic vote in either chamber when it passed last year.

At the same time, the party’s left flank warns that the biggest political mistake Democrats could make is to deflate their base’s enthusiasm — and that timid moves will not motivate progressives to flock to the polls in 2020.