Though the Republicans haven't been in control of the reigns of power all the time since the 1980s, they have controlled the narative and the economic gospel has been trickle down economics. Democrats have been unable to make much traction with any other economic ideas and they need to tout the economic gospel of the day to get re-elected.
Since 1980 we've had 2 Democratic presidents and 4 Republicans. Three of those Republican administrations (with help from Congress) did massive borrow and spend programs and so far they were able to somehow blame the results on Democrats. The 2 Democratic presidents spent most of their time in office cleaning up the messes created by their Republican predecessors. Bush I is a bit o a mixed bag, he did raise taxes after promising not to, which hurt him badly in 1992.
Clinton's presidency was largely about dealing with closing the deficit left by Reagan's spending. The Republicans have also been very schizophrenic during this time period. When Republicans had the reigns of power, they spend money they don't have like drunk sailors on leave, when Democrats have the reigns of power, they blame the Democrats for the economic mess and suddenly balancing the budget is the most important thing on Earth.
For most Americans their entire lives were either spent during the time the Republicans had the narrative, or they knew a time when the Democratic narrative from FDR was breaking down (post Civil Rights) and the country was drifting rudderless due to political scandal (Watergate), the Vietnam War's aftermath (first war loss for the US), and economic turmoil from losing direct control of the world's oil market due to declining output from US oil fields in the 70s.
Up until late 2016 Fox News dragged all other media around by the nose. Most news outlets bent over backwards trying to cast Democrats and Republicans as what they were before 1980 which is a center-right and center-left party. The 2016 campaign they twisted themselves into pretzels trying to cast Trump and Clinton as political equals when it was obvious to anyone who was truly watching it was a contest between someone who was eminently qualified for the office (even if an unlikable personality) and a complete idiot.
Fox News has also forced other media into being more pro-Republican by throwing a fit whenever they were too critical of Republicans or Republican ideas, even if it was justified.
Fox News' grip on the rest of the media has slipped and the media is doing more real reporting now. The Republican bubble doesn't see it, but the independents and Democrats do.
The kleptocracy has been running since the 80s because the kleptocrats have a lot of influence in the Republican Party and that's been part of the Republican driven narrative. It is true that Clinton signed a bill that weakened Glass Steagal, and other Democrats have done other things to empower the kleptocrats, but they did it at Republican urging for the most part.
If you believe both parties are the same, you drank Fox News' Kool aid, even if you have never watched a minute of Fox News. They implanted a virus in your mind with that meme.
We haven't seen an American political system driven by the Democrats since the mid-1960s. Literally my entire life has been either in the transition limbo period or during the Republican controlled narrative period. There are people older than I am here, but many probably have dim memories of the pre-Civil Rights era Democratic narrative. Probably very few here remember when FDR took power in 1933.
Going back to the New Deal era memes would not work today. The world has moved on. But it is time to adopt new narratives for the 21st century. We can get inspiration from some of the better run democracies in the world, but we still need to adapt them to our cultures and make them our own.
The Democrats are suffering from being married to a batterer for 30+ years. The Republicans have beaten up on Democrats very much like a marriage rife with violence. The Democrats collectively have PTSD from the experience and haven't been able to run the family the way they felt they should, nor even been allowed to think about it too much. But it looks like daddy with his belt is about to go away to prison for a long stretch, so it's up to the family to figure out what a post violence family is going to look like.
very very few Americans have a clue of Venezuelan ... politics/system.
Most Americans don't know the details. I'm no expert on it, but I probably understand more than most. However, most Americans would not be in favor of their system if they did understand it.
