It's certainly due to his charm and eloquence. Even full leftists I subscribe to recognise him as a piece of shit these days.
Tbh the more I learn the less faith I have in democratic philosophy in the US but, in the way of Winston Churchill:
'Democracy is the worst form of government aside from all the others that have ever been tried'.
So perhaps there is something else, but given we've been trying for literally thousands of years, unlikely.