I don’t think the Democratic or Republican candidates are anything more than useful idiots for the billionaire class, and I think the vast majority of their promises are outright lies.
We saw a great example of that over the last 2-3 years, with partisans defending very public cognitive breaks on the part of President Biden, who I personally think should be 25’d out. If he hadn’t had that exceedingly embarrassing incident at the debate, the Democrats and Democratic voters would still be defending him.
The Obama and Trump presidencies killed any optimism I have for our country and system of government. Obama was reelected AFTER making sure the big banks suffered no ill effects of willfully destroying our economy for profit. Trump spent more than a year of his presidency (cumulatively) on vacation, and even sold the Oval Office for ad space. (And that was BEFORE he led a literal insurrection on the Capitol.)
It’s difficult for me to understand anyone being optimistic, if you’re looking at the last 44 years (and in particular, 16 years) with an objective eye.