Moderates are the reason we are where we are. The attempts to appease centrists only serve to make progressives apathetic and not turn out and vote. We are here because the DNC hasn't stood for anything, and as long as they keep rolling with moderates we will keep losing.
Let me run you back through the democratic time machine for a bit. The D's spent the back half of the 60's righting a lot of wrongs. Back then the R's are what the D's currently are now.They spent their time droning on about policies, and the populace was tuning them out. Their attempts at reversing New Deal Era policies weren't popular. So they tied them to identity politics to get people to ignore the policies that were against their own interest, and instead vote for keeping minorities and women under thumb. From 1968 til now they've won 9 of the last 15 Presidential terms. The problem is that people do not want two right wing parties, and the DNC has been Republican lite. So as long as they are roughly the same true progressives and people that wanna see real change will keep staying home.