Yes that's why I'm saying the centrists are wrong, Nancy Pelosi is not too progressive at all and centrists wanting a less progressive Speaker than freaking Nancy Pelosi while ignoring all of the progressive policies that were passed and how DSA backed candidates overwhelmingly won is fucking stupid. They really think "socialism" is to blame for centrist Democrat candidates losing while ignoring all of the other results in regards to progressive policy and candidates.
Not only that, but there's a giant economic bomb about to drop in Biden's first or second term, and the GOP controlled Senate is unlikely to even confirm any of Biden's cabinet picks so he can prepare for it. It's a disaster waiting to happen and I don't think people who are looking at Biden possibly winning the presidency but Democrats losing the Senate are even thinking about how disastrous this is going to be outside of just legislation not being passed.
Hopefully the GOP at one point stops following the madness of trump. Otherwise you are going to have a good segment of the population that feels cheated what is a good basis for domestic terrorism. See it as people who refused the civil war was lost, unironically it's going to be the same sort of people here in this case.
So it's that old wound that never really healed going to be opened up again, perhaps also a chance to really deal with that unsolved matter.
“My philosophy is: It’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.”
― Anthony Hopkins
I feel the hostile approach on that front isn't particularly helpful. It's more helpful, IMO, to point out the logical consequences of this outcome (and 2016, in retrospect).
Both elections, the Democrats put forward a strong centrist, with fairly broad appeal (yes, Hillary Clinton had broad appeal, I don't care if some individual hated her irrationally; I'm hardly a Hillary fanboy myself). This was up against Trump, a far-right fascist pushing fascist talking points and disinformation. This, it was argued both times, should result in a slam-dunk victory for the Democrats. It was a loss in 2016, and it's looking like a skin-of-the-teeth victory here in 2020.
So, we can reliably expect future appeals to centrism to be as risky. Especially if the opponent isn't as brazenly misanthropic and gross as Trump. 2016 and 2020 are the ideal circumstances for this ideological bent; this is the best possible outcome you can get, that way.
So, reasonably, we can presume that trying a progressive candidate in 2024 and beyond could resolve in any one of three ways, generally speaking. Less support for the Democrats. More support for the Democrats. Or no real change.
For the latter two, running the progressive is either not any greater a risk, or it's a net positive. There's real potential for gains, here.
And if it's the former, then you're already at the best you can ever hope to get with a non-fascist message. You can't ever do any better. Is the nation even recoverable in support of a Democratic message, at that point? Or are you locked into a fascist tailspin from which you can only try and mitigate the damage from the eventual crash? The voters will have made their views clear, and what the American people want, in that case, is more white supremacy, loss of civil rights, and economic lockdown. Those aren't bugs, they're the features they desire. And in such numbers that working against that will necessarily be a constant fight; making things better won't be on the table, only doing your best to ensure things don't get worse during that current term. I'm not sure that's a fight worth fighting, if I'm honest. Not in that manner, at least. That's where a peaceful separation might be a more-useful discussion, because separating into two distinct nations which can each effect their own visions is arguably a better outcome than trying to remain whole and battling each other bloodily for the soul of the nation, every year.
I wonder how much of it is actually fear of that and how much of that is the misinformation, arguably it is part of it but there's so much misinformation about what Trump is and did and what Biden isn't and did, that it feels like that is the root issue instead of something else.
How to deal with all of this as a nation and on level of policy without going into full censorship on social media and older media.
“My philosophy is: It’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.”
― Anthony Hopkins