Damage control is exactly how has come into happening. Project 2025 will just be Project 2033 under the Democrats, the Ratchet Effect is real, and it's been written there in black and white since Bill Clinton.
Also why do people say 'barely left of fucking centre as far as Europe is concerned overall' when Europe is literally having a fascist revival period in France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Romania, Serbia and is literally happening in Italy, Hungary, Sloevenia, Russia, and Turkey. Is it just medicare and gun control? It's a start but it's a pretty low bar for a continent rich with the spoils of exploitation of the resources from the most of the rest of the world.
The USA and Europe can do better, and we should expect it and demand. But rolling over for the Democrats and the Labour Party and whoever the fuck weakly stands in opposition but still enables all the exact same bullshit when they inevitable compromise, yes they are better than the alternative, but they need to be held more accountable.