I’m not an ideologue, but historically, centrism (or, to be more precise, liberalism) has done a pretty poor job of defeating extreme points of view, because they typically won’t do what’s required to resolve the conditions which lead to extremism, and the response to threats to the status quo (socially or politically) are more often met with repression.

The adage “scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds” doesn’t come from nowhere.