His calibration is perfectly fine. There is no left left in the US, as is obvious from the crack down of unions and welfare and the privatization of all aspects of society. At best, you get center-right representation in Congress (who represent the elite, not the working class.)
In my reading of US history, there has never been a left that had any power in the US. Oh it might be allowed to make leftish noises, but as soon as it attempted to assert itself ...
On Sep 15, 1917, U.S. Department of Justice agents made simultaneous raids on forty-eight IWW meeting halls across the country ... arresting, jailing and convicting 165 leaders.
Want more ... see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids
"a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States."
While you and I ape on hackernews, the American Left is currently filibustering in the Senate.
The left is real, adapts to what can work, and learns.