In the end, winning elections is the most important part. If progressive issues play badly in West Virginia and North Dakota, then moving towards the center is a matter of survival. When democrats had 60 seats in 2009, there were at least 17 centrist Democrats by my count.
Depends on what we need to move to center with. I think the leftwards shift on social issues has probably hurt Democrats a good bit with various white demographics in the midwest/rust belt, and there is no reason economically liberal/culturally conservative Democrats can't win there and possibly in some parts of Appalachia.
Honestly the last thing I want to see is any faction of Democrats justifying a shift to the center on economic issues based on the results of the past few elections. That seems like an excuse for Democrats to satisfy rich donors and special interests, when such a shift is totally unnecessary.
I agree that a shift towards centrism on economics is not necessary for Democrats to win elections. If anything, this last election proved that populism has viable currency in today's political climate, so god knows why anybody thinks that cranking the moderation up to 11 is the way to go if winning is what we want to do.
But the last thing I want to see right now is the Sander's wing demanding it call the shots on everything. It's not because I dislike their progressive priorities mind you, the vast majority of the Democratic Party holds progressive priorities at this point including me, despite how fashionable it's become lately to complain about the party being overrun with corporatists. I think that the fears expressed over losing elections if we become too progressive is a misplaced one.
So I think the party should stop worrying about losing over the calls for more progressivism. Instead, the party should focus its concerns on the fact that the Sander's wing has consistently been advocating for sh*t policy. We've already had one of our major parties descend into economic illiteracy and fantasy pandering, they've been rewarded with full control of government and we are all worse off for it. I'm not keen on seeing the same fate of "win at all costs" befall the other party if it costs us sound judgement and working knowledge on how to actually govern in a responsible manner. Watching progressives consistently conflate single-payer with the entire concept of universal healthcare as a whole and then demanding everybody fall in line with their thinking or get pushed aside doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence that they are getting any more knowledgeable on the matter.
I would kill to have a progressive wing that puts policy capable people front and center in its movement, but that's not what's happening right now.
