A couple of ideas: (1) Centrism is situational. One might think that the status quo is objectively reasonably close to the ideal, in terms of the general way society is arranged even if there are many imperfections. (2) Centrism is technocratic. If you don't favour a lurch to the left or right, it would make sense to want efficient improvements to how things are run - accepting good ideas regardless of which area of the political compass they come from, bipartisan support for policies on their merits.
Based on the above, centrism (and indeed, being centre-left or centre-right) seems viable as a real belief that people can hold, not some strategy to appear above it all for social benefit, or as a stratagem used by someone actually highly partisan. A centrist's goals could be directly met by encouraging trial of different ideas across the political spectrum, and consistent meta-level rules rather than tribalist thinking. Trying to rise above the bunfighting isn't the benefit of centrist views, it's a necessity to enable the things they want to achieve.
Based on the above, centrism (and indeed, being centre-left or centre-right) seems viable as a real belief that people can hold, not some strategy to appear above it all for social benefit, or as a stratagem used by someone actually highly partisan. A centrist's goals could be directly met by encouraging trial of different ideas across the political spectrum, and consistent meta-level rules rather than tribalist thinking. Trying to rise above the bunfighting isn't the benefit of centrist views, it's a necessity to enable the things they want to achieve.