hard to understand the malaise

. . . but it’s been prominent enough as to be mentioned explicitly for some decades:

https://www.closeup.org/revisiting-jimmy-carters-crisis-of-confidence-speech/

Carter delivered this speech, often referred to as his “Malaise Speech,” on July 15, 1979

45 years later:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/11/06/us/trump-election-harris-news

“polls showed the electorate hungry for change”

. . . really, just oscillation, Republican, Democrat, Republican, Democrat, dissatisfaction, Hope and Change, throw out the incumbents, not understanding, not getting anywhere, life is not terrible but it kind of sucks, change spouses, change places, change leaders, lost faith in hope, lost faith in change, lost faith in progress, and it all adds up to an underlying amorphous malaise.