Bernie Sanders when all was said and done raised about the same amount of money that Hillary Clinton did for the primary. The only difference is that the average donation to his campaign was just under $30. That enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders didn't translate fully for us Democrats in the main election. I believe that the lost constituency of the Democratic party isn't found on the right, but is found in the disenfranchised progressives that are more left of center than the those controlling the Democratic Party right now. Remember in the last election we didn't just lose the Presidency, but we lost the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, we lost the governor's mansions, the state houses and more. Trying to stay in the center or moving to the right didn't work for us. Bernie Sanders' positive rating was much higher than both Hillary and Trump. If he would have prevailed against Hillary Clinton he would have won the election. I am not a Bernie Bro, but the reality is the Democratic Party would probably have been much better off going more liberal and more progressive rather than the other way around.
The problem is the Overton Window. Because the Tea Party has been so crazy to the right, what we used to think was right and even far right appears to be the center. This center thing is only important to the people currently in control of the Democratic Party, people I call Technocrats. Ordinary folks, not Technocrats, who have lost their jobs or have seen their unions crushed and seen their healthcare cost choke their standard of living while the party that was supposed to fight for them by being progressive (the Democrats) just stood by, no longer look to the Democratic Party to fight for them. Trump won Wisconsin because he appealed to their particular economics. (It's the economy stupid). There is no passion in the new center for progressive issues.
Until Bernie I thought pushing for progressive policies could only hurt the party. Now there are 37 states that have minimum wage well over the Federal standard, and a good number of states and communities have $15 per hour minimum wages on the books or have set in motion a progression to get them to the $15 per hour wage shortly. Something unthinkable just 2 short years ago, even for me. Our Democratic party is not effectively appealing to the center, and the Technocrats are unappealing to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt core of the party, which oddly enough includes some people, that in their frustration voted for Trump. The normal Roosevelt thinking Democrats as well as some misguided Trump Democrats, don't think that common sense gun concontol is just a liberal issue, don't think that Medicare for all is too socialist, don't think that college is something only for the rich, and don’t think that the top 1% are overburdened by higher taxes.
If the Technocrats put up a new centrist Democrat that caucuses with the Republicans, we progressives are not going to vote for that candidate. We have a third choice. We can sit on our hands on election day. And unfortunately, the Democratic Party has been feeding us crap candidates and our enthusiasm is not there for them. Other things in life become more important than trying to choose from two candidates that don't represent them before and after the election.
And another thing. Stop taking the black vote for granted! Democrats won in Alabama, one of the reddest states in the US, because some Democrats showed up to vote, but 98% of African Americans showed up. If we orient our politics and policies for the Black vote, we will win every election. Stop orienting the Democratic Party towards Wall Street because that is where the Technocrats think the money is, and start orienting the party for the benefit of the people who actually vote.