meant eight more years of the same neoliberal bullshit that's been degrading western nations

I think this is the crux.

I mean that in terms of what a modern western government is going to do, the Liberals have done pretty well. I'd like more etc but I'm relatively impressed by the start.

There's a large difference between "not doing what you would do" on an issue and not doing anything.

I also tend to think that creating and refining multiple new national programs takes more than a couple of years.