Yeah, Dems moved to the middle with Biden and look how well that worked out.

The real issue here is that Democrats constantly allow Republicans to move the Overton Window ever rightward, thus defining anything to the left of them as "radical," or "socialism," or "radical socialism."

This is bait, you understand. It's bait to get Democrats to keep inching further toward an increasingly conservative "center" position, which does nothing to win over any moderates or independents and does a lot to piss off the Democratic voter base.

What we need is someone young(ish), bold, aggressive, and unapologetic about what they stand for. Someone unafraid to school the Republicans if they try to apply the "radical socialist" label. Someone who will throw that back in their faces and point out how radical the Republicans actually are. I mean, for fuck's sake, they tried to overthrow the government last year. It doesn't get more radical than that.

But yes, this person also needs to be a pragmatist, and that's why someone like AOC is a nonstarter. I like the idea of Pete Buttigieg in full Batman mode, going to town on the GOP's talking points and holding them to account for their hypocrisy. But that's just a thought.