Embedded in the disparagement of appealing to the electoral center is a quasi-religious faith in the power of base mobilization to solve all political problems. This faith tends to attribute Biden’s win in 2020 to this mobilization, especially his victories in the relatively diverse states of Georgia and Arizona, newcomers to the Democratic coalition.

But this is wrong too. Despite the acres of commentary that echo this interpretation, the hard facts of the matter are that Biden improved on Hillary Clinton’s performance not by improving Democratic performance among the classic locus of the Democratic base—nonwhite voters—but by improving Democratic performance among white voters, both college and working class. In fact, Democrats actually lost ground among nonwhite voters, especially Hispanics (Catalist data)…

Moderate white voters who were won over to the Democratic side in 2020, perhaps especially due to distaste for Trump, need to be kept in the fold in 2022. And further bleeding among nonwhite voters, especially working class voters, needs to be prevented.

It does not seem plausible that the road to achieving these goals, even partially, can be found by pressing the progressive accelerator. Rather, a move to common sense cultural positions and advocacy of very popular policy ideas, as above, seem more likely to do the trick. And importantly, lay the groundwork for a Democratic rebranding that is a necessary condition for future Democratic success.