The problem with Democrats just trying to address their base, is that they don’t have a clear one. The old school, moderate Democrats are a slowly dying breed, and the way the DNC operates is pretty much a perfect example of what the next generation of progressives are opposed to. Corporate money controls the party and it has become a cesspool of cronyism and blatant corruption.
Instead of taking on real issues like campaign finance reform, climate change, marijuana legalization, etc. the DNC has just paid lip service to the wokeism twitter crowd. That strategy is basically the worst of both worlds. It attaches the party to the ridiculous green haired screechers, and it fails to speak to more reasonable progressives who want to bring about real change.
Some people may disagree with this, but truly moderate Democrats would have showed up to vote for Bernie or Tulsi just to make sure Trump doesn’t win. Whether they are right or wrong, progressives have already proven they won’t do the same. They can continue to hold the DNC hostage if they choose. Each election cycle they will become a larger portion of the electorate.
The opposition is a bunch of fanatic, science denying, evangelicals. The Democrats should be dominating every level of government but they have screwed up at pretty much every possible opportunity.