The Leftist Response to Current Change

In general I've found it interesting to see the leftist response to the elections in Argentina and Venezuela. Very often, it buys into the mainstream perception that the left is somehow suddenly done and the right is ascendant. I am not sure why.

But as this example from Counterpunch shows, buying into that simplistic vision is problematic because it completely discounts what Latin American voters think, versus what intellectuals believe they should think.

Latin American revolutionary leaders were given a mandate by the people, and they have no right to back up, to betray.

You have no right to change your mind and express that in elections! You bastards! Even corruption is viewed as a fascist conspiracy.

Corruption!!! That is the new battle cry of the elites and their lackeys. 

To be fair, this particular example is pretty extreme because it wants armed rebellion of some kind, or leftist authoritarianism, or something like that. What's abundantly clear, though, is that Latin American voters are more pragmatic than the left or the right want to admit. For whatever reason, many intellectuals and politicians alike are stuck in the binary way of thinking. That's a very bad place to be for incumbents. If you want to stay in power, break out of that and reconnect to your voters. Don't pretend real problems are imaginary.