Why are Democrats ceding common-sense ground to Republicans?

Mahmdani (who we all wish were our mayor) said this about the Democratic Party in the U20 mayoral summit in nyc a few days ago:

“Mamdani argued that the left should reclaim phrases like “quality of life,” “efficiency,” and “waste” from the right. “If you are staring at an example of social disorder or social inefficiency, and the left refuses to explain either why it has happened or how they will fix it, then the right gets to point at someone in the immediate area and say, ‘That’s who did it,’” Mamdani said.”

This seems to hit close to home particularly in this subreddit. The majority of us want a functioning government that has some semblance of social order and quality of life, yet if any of us say anything along these lines like voicing an opinion like ‘homeless people that are committing crimes should face consequences of their actions’ or ‘we should audit the KCRHA and many other orgs / city subcontracts that take public funds’ are silenced or ridiculed for being republican.

This is coming from the Democratic Socialist mayor that is emerging as a foremost leader in our times. Do people disagree?