alternatively, some large percentage of so-called centrists are simply more comfortable with fascism than with progressivism. not because they hate others, necessarily, but because fascism promises to do the work for you while progressivism asks you to work to make the world better

Liberals align with fascists because, unlike leftists, fascists don't (initially) threaten their money and power. That was the dynamic behind German liberal democrats aligning with Nazis against socialists.