You are correct on all accounts...they went hard left out of the gates, but they also doubled down after the 2010 shellacking. They invented the Occupy movement, accelerated attacks on the wealthy, pushed for more taxes than they did in the previous years, and staked out additional far left positions. Not to mention unwillingness to do any meaningful cutting despite the public desire to do so. They were always radical leftists, they just put the foot on the accelerator instead of the the brake when they had a chance to take a different tact that likely have meant cruising to reelection.