I 100% agree with you about local level politics, I am an activist and working on expanding my reaches in my own areas.
The thing about where you're wrong is that you seem to not be familiar with AOC, or any of her freshmen colleagues. They talk policy SUBSTANCE all day long on twitter, facebook, the hill, instagram, and elsewhere, bringing those great and progressive ideas to an entire new generation of new voters. The phasing out of The Third Way politics of wall street and big business is over.
Look at Bernie Sanders' "Anti-Endorsement" list, as an example
https://berniesanders.com/anti-endorsements/
Going AFTER big business, going AFTER wall street, going AFTER the people that you hint at to be the culprits in a crumbling democracy.
Things are changing, stop being so cynical. Headlines aren't everything. Go deeper.