Solarpunk

The grass is always greener on the other side. Americans who think companies don't pay enough, housing price is too high, fuel is too expensive, etc., would be shocked to see how bad it is in Portugal. You can have a degree in CS and go work as a Software Engineer, and you still won't have enough money to rent a home in the city. After a few years, if you manage to get some raises (good luck), you'll maybe have enough for a small flat.

Health care is much cheaper than the US, but that doesn't mean much when there are no doctors or nurses, and maternity wards start closing down.

We have people who are unqualified to teach having to teach school classes because there is no one else available; also some teachers have to live in their cars because they can't afford a home in the area they teach.

I could keep naming things. And progressive in what way? Drugs are decriminalized, but that's not the same as legal, and it's still illegal to sell weed unlike in the US. Both the US and Portugal have had same sex marriage and adoption for years now. And I also don't think trans rights are much better in Portugal than in the US; so I'm not entirely sure in what way it's more progressive, to be honest.

And this is not to mention all the government scandals we've had in the last 15 years; probably the same or more as the US, you just don't hear about it because it's not the US.

But to get back to the point:

That means they are forced to cater their policies at least a little bit toward all those people, and it ends up having a real meaningful impact on their platform.

No they're not, trust me. Source: the reason for our last elections. Or how we've (the people, through taxes) had to sink a ridiculous amount of money into a national airliner that made no money, and recently when it seemed to be turning a profit after decades, they began to talk about privatizing it, which is something the right had been demanding for a long time now.

If you always vote for someone, they have no incentive to do anything for you; they know they get your vote anyway. If you don't vote for them, then they have an incentive to try and appeal to you in order to get your vote.