Lad -- while the term "fellow travelers" can mean communists in particular, a very common form of the term refers to:

Quote:a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that organization.

Im not speaking for Owl69, and if I am misinterpreting you O69 please tell me, but he did use the specific term of

Quote:fellow travelers on the left

Thus I read it originally, and still read it, not as "fellow travelers (period) (i.e. Communists)", but "a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of the left."

Liberals and progressives are very definitely "intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of the left" no matter which way you try to slice that sandwich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow_traveller