I think this is actually a valid takeaway for the Democrats for the next election:
You are on the clock to Noticeably Improve People's Lives (NIPL) during your term, or your braindead electorate are going to flush the country down the toilet post-haste. While investing in long-term gains is important, all those investments will be sabotaged if you can't improve people's lives in a way they can actually tell, and critically, communicate it to the aforementioned braindead electorate so that they know the effect you had.