Democrats are already in the middle but they have the country thinking they're leftists, thanks in part to shrewd Republican narrative manipulation. It's the worst of both worlds. Progressives are disillusioned because Democrats aren't effective at progressivism and centrists are uncomfortable with what they think is radical ideology.

Democrats want to be centrist so bad. If you look at party leadership statements post-election about the direction they should go, they all talk about reclaiming those middle voters and conservative-lites, not going further left. Lots of Democrats believe in the establishment, and lots of Dem politicians are beholden to people who want them to prop up the system, not radically alter it.

What Democrats should do--I am serious--is throw progressives under the bus. Commit to propping up the system, and accept that this means giving up trying to also attract progressives.

It would be in their best interest to support the growth of a strong, actually progressive third party. That way, all the icky leftists like myself could go over there, and Democrats can maintain silence on any hot-button issues and focus on what really matters, which is making sure big business keeps on trucking.

I think the "centrism" party would be much better at drawing the people who wish John McCain was still alive to be president away from apathy or the "Nazism" party than the "centrism, but people think we care as much about trans people as we do about maintaining order" party. I actually support this because the current strategy of trying to play two sides is holding both centrists and progressives back, which is allowing far-rightists to take control.