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Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States. Here's a look at America's next first family. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON Several electionsacross the country still hadnt been decided when the blame game started.

House Democrats were stunned by their lossesafter weeks of forecasting had predicteda big win on Election Day.Whispers of leadership change swirled, and Houselawmakers soon moved from privately bashing one anotherto a public airing of grievanceson social media and in the media.

It's not a new fight, the battle waged between progressives and moderates over the vision of the Democratic Party. But this time around, moderatesare emboldened.After spending the past few years working in the background as progressives became a leading voicein the party, moderates came out swinging after Election Day losses.

Moderates,who helped Democrats take the House in 2018and saw their colleagues ousted in key districts this year, not only demanded changes within the party apparatusbutloudly issued warnings that Democrats will lose power in the 2022 midterm elections should they not make changes. Progressivesfiercely dismissthat notion.

"For any organization, any team to have been successful, you have to have unity," said Rep. CindyAxne, the only Democrat to win a federal race in Iowa so far this year. (One race is yet to be called). "The No. 1 thing is you all have to be focused on the mission, and the way that you're going to go about getting there ishaving the same strategy to get there. When you don't have that, unity is gone and it makes it a lot more difficult. So I do have concerns."

The bickering over incremental progress versus bold changes has takennew form.Democrats find themselves not only quarreling about the disappointing results of the election, but they already are butting heads on the path forward, leaving in the crossfire both the legislative agenda inthe Biden administration and changes needed to make Democratic gains in the next election.

USA TODAY interviewed key Democratic lawmakersfrom different factions ofthe partyabout the path forward,what needs to change to win areas President Donald Trump turned redand the legislation that could muster support from both sides of the aisle.

Intraparty disputes have become almost routine, often sprungfrom two important developments for Democrats in the past five years: Sen.Bernie Sanders' popular presidential runs, that inspired a new generation of progressive activists,and the arrival of new progressives, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,afterthe2018midterms.

Moderates, many from swing districts or states, often focuson local issues that don't always draw the spotlightand boast of working across the aisle to enact more incremental changes in larger policy. Progressives, on the other hand, have advocated more sweeping change, calling for Democrats to be bold on urgent issues affecting their constituents, such as climate change, access to health careand criminal justice reform.

But unlike past fights over the direction of the party, thenextyear marks a new moment for Democrats as they take control of the White House, forcing Biden to navigate through deeply rooted beliefs in both branches of the party.

'IT WAS A FAILURE': Furious House Democrats unload as leadership promises answers after election losses

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Moderate Democratswho have seen their colleagues ousted by Republicanswere quick topoint fingers.They argued that Republican attacks linking members to socialism and the "defund the police" movementwere a death knell, and they blamedsomeprogressive members forloudly backing those ideas.

Just days after the election, HouseDemocrats huddled on a phone callthat featured yelling and tears.Rep. AbigailSpanberger, a moderate Democrat fromVirginiawho eked out a victory, told the rest of her conference that Democrats needed to learn a lesson from the lossesor "we will be f---ingtorn apart in 2022."

In the days that followed, theargumentmoved to the pages of The New York Times, whereRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic socialist,argued that poor outreach and digital campaigning sunk moderatesin swing districts. In turn, Rep.ConorLamb, a Pennsylvania moderate who fended off a Republican challenger,responded that unpopular progressive messaging, such as defunding the police and talk of socialism,lost Democrats seats and could lose the House majority in the future.

MORE ON DEM LOSSES: House Democrats didn't see 'blue wave' to expand majority. Here's what we know.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging Republicans to stop the "charade" of President Donald Trump's reelection, as the coronavirus sweeps through the United States. Pelosi says without leadership, the COVID crisis will further "spiral." (Nov. 13) AP Domestic

Progressives have bristled at the blame laid at their feet.

We have to be very, very careful in pointing those fingers, and we need to just look at the data as it comes in, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Many of the accusations hurled at progressives were not supported by evidence, she argued, pointing out that incumbent Democrats who ran in swing districts and supported "Medicare for All" ended up winning their reelection bids.

Moderates have similarly taken issue with assessments by progressives over the losses, notablyafter Ocasio-Cortez said some swing-district Democrats were "sitting ducks" because of poor voter outreach and digital campaigning.

They argued that progressives in very liberal districts are out of touch with voters in their areas who don't support many progressive policiesbut rather want a Washington that works togetherto enact change.

Obviously, we all need to sit down and have a big family meeting to get a better understanding of what these districts are like,"said Axne, D-Iowa. "A lot of people make assumptions about who can win where when they have absolutely no clue what it's like here on the ground.

Sen. Joe Manchin,one of the few remaining red-state Democrats who has been a vocal opponent of many progressivepolicies, said the fighting wasashame because there's enough room to have every good idea put on the table.

But, he said, proposals such as defunding the police are sofar out of the mainstream policies he and other Democrats could never support. Thats when I saidDefund my butt!,a reference to a tweet that drew the ire of Ocasio-Cortez.

Manchin echoed his fellow Democrats, saying the election displayed clear issues the party needs to address.

When you have someone with the flaws that President Trump had, after four years of us seeing those flaws, and they walk into the voting boothand they say, Well, that's better than the other side, so I'll go for him anyway, something's wrong," Manchin said. "It should not have been a close election in any way, shape or form.

At the top of his list for change wasDemocratsmaking a stronger case onthe economy.

When you don't have a message on the economy, (voters)believe that that (Democratic)brand basically is more concerned and interested in people that don't work or won't work, more so than the people that do work and will work," he said."There's a problem.

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Across the board, moderates stressed that the best path forward was helping Biden get a legislative agenda through Congress and compromising with Republicans. Many stressed the needfor progressives to tone down their rhetoric and for swing-district Democratsto better connect with voters back home in hopes that GOP attacks aiming to tie them to far-left policy wouldnt stick.

Congresswoman-elect Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, one of the only Democratsto flip a district this year,saidRepublican attackstying her to Medicare for Alland defunding the policedid not work because she was clear on where my feet are planted.She doesn't support either and stressed the need for Democrats to take adistrict-by-district approach.

Axnecredited her win in Iowa to the connections she built in her district. She stressed that Democrats needed to examine voting trends amongrural residents and examine why Democrats lost so many over the years.

We continue to ignore them. I didn't ignore them. And that's why I'm sitting here, because their voices are valuable. They deserve to be heard and they're important for this country'ssuccess,Axnesaid.

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New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly emerged as one of the leading progressive voices in the Democratic Party.(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Progressiveshave offeredtheir ownremedies.Ocasio-Cortezargued in The Times that Democratsas a wholeneedto understand that weare not the enemy. And that their base is not the enemy.

She stressed the need for different factions of the party to work together and use the assets from everyone at the party.Specifically, Ocasio-Cortezhighlighted the need for Democrats to invest more online in digital advertising and outreach.

These folks are pointing toward Republican messaging that they feel killed them, right? But why were you so vulnerable to that attack? Ocasio-Cortez said in The Times. If youre not door-knocking, if youre not on the internet, if your main points of reliance are TV and mail, then youre not running a campaign on all cylinders. I just dont see how anyone could be making ideological claims when they didnt run a full-fledged campaign.

Progressives such as Jayapal and Rep. Mark Pocan, both of whom co-chair the progressive caucus,were more subdued about immediate changes in Democrats approach. Both said adeep diveinto voter data would display more about what went wrong this cycle and what changes were needed, something the House Democrats' campaign arm has already promised it would do.

Butboth agreed Trump is an outlier in politics that likely had a greater impact than polling could predictand his removal from the White House could change thingssignificantlyin the next cycle.

I do think we all do that the anomaly really is that Donald Trump has been historically odd to the political system, Pocan said.

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Jayapal added that far-left ideas and organizing boosted voter turnout in critical swing states and in cities like Detroit, Philadelphiaand Atlanta that led to Biden's win.

Democrats losses this cycle were tough, she said, but she noted Republicans and Trump had been working every day since he came into office to organize on the ground, to invest in real infrastructure, different kinds of media that reach people. Democrats did not necessarily anticipate the kind of turnout Trump would drive, nor did they organize as consistently over the course of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden ran as a moderate, someone known for making deals across the aisle. But since he left the Senateat the beginning of 2009,a lot has changed. Partisanship is deep-rooted, even in the Senate, whichhas historically beenknown for its members' abilityto strike a deal.The number of red-state Democratshas dwindled.Onlythree Democratic senatorsrepresent states won by Trump in 2020.

And while leaders on both sides of the aisle have said they hope to get bipartisan deals across the finish line, Biden could be the first president in more than 30 years to take office withoutcontrol over both chambers of Congress. Democrats still have a chance to take control of Congressif theywin both Senate seats in Georgia in a January runoff, though it will be a tough featina state turning purple with a history of backingRepublicans.

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Joe Biden has spent nearly 5 decades in politics, culminating in his candidacy for president in 2020. USA TODAY

"I think the country spoke pretty loudly in this last election that they want us to work together, said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. I believe there was a lot of ticket-splitting and a lot of voters whosaid wewant to turn the page on the White House, but we want acheck (on a purely Democratic agenda.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi downplayed concerns that her smaller majority in the House and thelikelihood of the Senate remaining in Republican hands would mean a less aggressive legislative agenda.

We still have the power of the majority, but on top of that, our leverage and our powerisgreatly enhanced by having a Democratic president in the White House, Pelosi said Friday at a news conference.

There couldbe room for compromise.

Nearly every lawmaker who spoke to USA TODAYidentified a coronavirus stimulus package and infrastructure as key areas where Democrats could work with Republicans.Bidens platform called for a $2 trillion investment in infrastructure and clean energy during his first term.

More: For Biden, unwinding the Trump presidency could be a full-time job fraught with politics

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Besides Senate Republicans possibly standing in the way, Biden will have to navigate the demands of progressives, some knowntoreject proposals backed by party leadership over concerns they did not go far enough.The Progressive Caucus, which countedclose to 100 members in thelast Congress, will expand its numbersin the next Congress and could flex its muscleas one of the largest voting blocsin House.

Moderates expressed anxietythat the far-left flank of the party could make it difficult for them to get things done.

I am somebody who believes progress is better than purity, saidRep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla. "This whole idea that somehow focusing on what can be done is not bold is incorrect. In my opinion, bold is getting things done."

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Progressives say their goals have not changedand didnt deny there could be members who vote against legislation if it didnt go far enough.

Are we always going to try to move things to be bigger and bolder? Likely,Pocansaid, arguing not many bills were likely to move through Congress because of expected Republican control of the Senate. Instead, Pocan said, most changes would occur by executive action.Other progressives were confident they would be able to move forward on legislative priorities.

Congressman-electMondaireJonessaidprogressives could be patient, calling progressivism " long-suffering work."

But another progressive freshman from New York, Congressman-elect Jamaal Bowman, said progressive priorities like COVID-19 relief, Medicare for All,public housing investmentand the Green New Deal were demands of the American people that Biden needs to respond to.

Democrats moderates and progressives alike need to be ready to hold him accountable, he said.

Biden, for his part, has struck anambitioustone.He saidTuesday that he wanted to work with Congressto dramatically ramp up health care protections, get America to universal coverage, and lower health care costs as soon as humanly possible.

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Democratic Party waging a war over its future just as Joe Biden takes helm - USA TODAY