For my part, I think that Pelosi pursues legislation that is not as liberal as she would like in order to get legislation passed. I also feel that she is completely incompetent, because she is not very good at drafting legislation that can pick up votes despite having a reasonably sizable advantage in the House. And this problem is compounded because the White House has not done a very good job of guiding legislation through Congress, instead relying on Congress to write legislation based on his agenda, which is a recipe for disaster considering the Democratic leadership in Congress.

Take the stimulus, for example. Obama proposed a bill that would use Keynesian investments in infrastructure spending, as well as some investment in scientific research and alternative energy. Now, whatever your feelings on this proposal, it at least makes sense in the context of Obama's agenda. And had the Obama administration drafted this legislation and submitted it to Congress, then he probably could have used his political capital to get the Democrats in line and pass the bill. Instead, he relied on the Democratic Congressional leadership to draft a bill and they couldn't write one that their own party wasn't willing to pass. So they came up with the brilliant solution of putting in a ton of pork barrel to pass it, something that nobody in the country supported. This turned a politically controversial bill into a political disaster and is a major reason that the Republicans are primed to make major gains during the midterms.

Now having said all that, Pelosi is not a moderate Democrat. And under usual circumstances, people wouldn't consider Peters to be a moderate Democrat either. However, in today's highly partisan political environment, Peters can claim to be a moderate because he is in a number of ways less liberal than the majority of the Democratic Party.