Democrats have been beating themselves up for the underperformance of their House and Senate candidates since the November 3 election. Instead of focusing on the mistakes allegedly made by the losers, I think it is useful to reframe the question. Why did millions of Americans–most likely, Republicans and independents–choose to vote against Trump, but for Republican congressional candidates?
When you put the question that way, the answer is obvious–the public blamed Trump, but not the GOP as a whole, for the absurdly inadequate response to the pandemic. That was a perfectly reasonable position for the electorate to take. It’s not as if Mitch McConnell was encouraging people to eat bleach.
If I’m right, and I think I am, the battle between progressives and centrists after the election has been pointless. In all likelihood, the only thing the Democrats could have done differently was to obstruct the big bipartisan bailout package and hope the GOP took the blame for the ensuing misery and unemployment. That kind of decision is not within the DNA of the Democratic Party. It just wouldn’t have been right, even if the GOP, in the same position, probably would have done it without hesitation.