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I think that partly, the strategic failure of the left is an instance of tragedy of the commons: individuals following their personal incentives, to the detriment of the collective outcome.
Basically, people don't optimize their behavior for big picture success, but for personal success. Being a moderate is boring, especially among the people who are into political activism. Perhaps the most electable Democratic candidate would be a reincarnation of Bill Clinton. But it is trivial to score political points by saying "we do not want another rich cis-het male white candidate". It will boost your standing in your group so much, signal that you are not some sell-out but a hardcore believer in the cause.
On the right, things are a bit different. The Fuehrerprinzip is a right-wing idea, after all. Sure, you get a few radicals who show their bravery by flying the swastika, but mostly they realize that Nazism is a toxic brand. This tendency to form a cohesive block is somewhat frightening compared to the squabbling left, where fission is common.
The failure mode of the US left is the French revolution, where every day the radicals will find their enemies of the state so that the guillotine baskets will be full by nightfall, while the failure mode of the right would be fascism, where party loyalty prevents any insiders from speaking out against crazy ideas.
Yeah, but there are plenty of left-wing ideas that rhyme. Lenin's "vanguard party" establishing a "dictatorship of the proletariat" is a contemporary example, with Lenin, Stalin, and Mao's cults of personality rivalling or surpassing Hitler's own.
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The left does not seem very good about speaking out about crazy ideas either. And in fairness, I do not think the Right is immune to filling baskets with heads. I'm not sure this distinction works either way.
To put on the Hlynka hat, both extremes are guilty of both of these things.
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