What people actually long for is the time when things were getting better by growth via wage gains. Pre-90's.

Corporations have stopped growth through wage gains as it hurts their ability to make obscene wealth. They have convinced governments that only population growth via high immigration is the path to prosperity in countries where a pot of taxpayer funding is given to most newcomers at the expense of those already here. Governments blindly follow despite the growing evidence that this is not the case and this has led to the decline of the middle class and working classes in the west..

So yes, people will vote for politicians who promise to slow immigration - it is a form of corporate welfare never seen before, and is decimating citizens and the public purse..

That is why OLeary won't win - he would never promise to slow immigration because he wants corporate welfare whereas Trump said he would deal with it..