I can understand their feelings of powerlessness in a two party system where both parties suck. Here in Canada the concept of strategic voting has been the norm for at least the past 20 years because people are aware of how shit the first past the post system is and how it forces us into a two party race we don't want but need to compromise on to make progress. We've spent that time trying to make viable third parties and that has worked to pressure the Canadian version of the Democrats to court more leftist politicians for support and minority governments with three parties have caused a steady march towards a better chance at fixing the underlying issue.
But unfortunately that's bred a backlash from people who think very much like Republicans. It was very rough watching Americans fall into a trap we Canadians have been stepping strategically around for so long.
Everyone is blaming the Dems for being everything. For pandering to the left or to the middle or to their courting of Republican voters... It's worthless effort. The Democrat playbook has been to play by the rules which systemically support the crony capitalism status quo. The only benefit of them is that they play by the rules which means if you pressure them enough to change the rules they can be manipulated.
Realistically speaking voting them in was one point on a checklist of multiple things that needed to happen to progress and as long as the rest of the checklist is happening then it's an ethical win. It's not a matter of "debasing one's morals" so long as you are doing the other things on the list. This idea of cooing over people's reluctance to hold one's nose and swallow the nasty pill is one I truly believe people need to get over. People should learn from their mistakes so they don't repeat them and the pat on the head with the "You only did what you thought was right" routine is in the end not a kindness. People need to learn how the levers of power work and what is effective tactics and what are the traps that the system baits to stop people from effectively participating.
Hands need to get dirty to make change happen and not every step is a feelgood exercise in feeling righteous. It's a boring slog of a group project. That feeling of refusal to compromise on values for any reason is the easiest thing in the world to exploit and divide people and we collectively should up the social cost of that action and teach that collectivism has it's costs. No effective movement in the history of mankind has checked every box for every member who propelled it to success. We can all afford to swallow a few nasty pills and bank on the delayed gratification of setting up a future win because the alternative is violence which doesn't have historically great outcomes... And yes that sometimes means somebody you don't like gets some kickback out of it.
Inaction by deadlock of a bunch of actors refusing to properly collaborate unless their demands are met are enemies of making change. It's just really hard to chisel past he messaging that they are not actually a noble group because so often we're taught that absolute rigidity of every stage of praxis is the virtue by which change is made. The people who sowed that narrative were knowingly or not imparting weakness. We don't need paragons or heroes we need people who can take tactical advantage of the natural cupidity of the powers that be and be willing to shake with one hand and hold a knife in the other.