Yup. From the outside, it's been reasonably obvious since 2007: The current system isn't working, and the ones who offer to change things are the ones who will actually get the votes.

This became even more apparent post-covid: Biden offered a return to normalcy, while Trump wanted to "fix everything". You can say what you want about Trump (and I will probably agree with most of it), but he offered something else than the same old neolib system that has failed more and more people every year.

The problem with today's mainstream politicians is that one side tries to return to Obama era "middle ground" policies while the other side can be summed up by this shamelessly stolen comic:

A sensible politician who wants to win an election needs to understand that "the middle ground" no longer means not stepping on toes. The middle ground these days means shaking up the current system to provide basic necessities for those who have been ignored for decades. People turn fascist for the same reason people turn tankie; when you're starving and someone promises all the potatoes you can drink, of course that sounds better than the current situation.

I truly hope Mamdani or someone like him gets to appear as more than "ermagerd scary communist" to the right side, because I'm sure most of those who would insta-hate "The left" actually can get behind a lot of the actual policies once they get beyond the politics.

I'm all for rainbow-rights, eco-friendly living, and diversity, but most peoples priorities are a lot more immediate: putting food in the table. Let's all hope the DNC realizes this.