I understand what you're saying.
I'm not sure I agree with your perspective on cynicism, but I can respect it. I would argue that the basis for a person's sense of cynicism (what is the person cynical about?) matters a great deal in terms of whether it motivates people to action or not. But fear and anger are the two most powerful motivators in human experience, and the things that people accomplish as a result of fear and/or anger tend to be very destructive.
Cynicism is generally the result of a person's experience with ugly reality overcoming unrealistically positive perspectives on a subject. We spend our whole lives zeroing in on things that provide us with positive feedback in a universe composed, almost entirely, of stuff that kills us. We're instinctively positive thinkers, in that sense, although what provides one person positive feedback might also cause great harm to another person.
We're often confronted with aspects of reality that threaten perspectives that we rely on to frame our lives in ways that help us to keep having positive experiences. We have some remarkable methods of dismissing apparent reality in favor of highly valued, but flawed, perspectives on how things work and how we fit in the world/how the world fits around us. Many people live their whole lives quite comfortably buffered against challenges to their fixed perspectives. Lots of very religious people live that way. Serious racists often do, as well (and I'm not equating them with some religious people in any sense other than the tendency to hold strong fixed perspectives that are not subject to challenge by reality). We all live that way to some extent.
So, to me, cynicism suggests maturity. It requires disappointment - if you're not shaken up a bit when something you've valued turns out to be an illusion, then you're not going to get cynical about it. And disappointment like that isn't a bad thing. If you realize you've lost something you believed you had, but never really did, a healthy human being is going to experience disappointment and maybe grief.
I don't know that I consider cynicism any different than wisdom. Wisdom isn't something easily obtained. It's usually the result of the experience of failure. And both result from a realization that reality isn't quite as pretty as we once thought it was.
Who really is likely to be a good leader and faithfully represent those who back her/him? In my view, that person is someone with a fair share of wisdom and a bit cynical. People who have experienced hard knocks, been bruised and shaken a bit, and understand that loss of fantasy can hurt, but it won't drag you all the way down unless you let it.
Most of the modern so-called 'highly successful' class of people (rich, happy and wielding power over many) aren't wise or cynical. They're narcissists and expect reality to accommodate their needs. When it doesn't, they blame someone else, then get right back out there and take what they want. And lying comes very easily to people who naturally value advantage over others' well-being. The human species has plenty of narcissists, and they can serve important functions, achieving goals that most people consider to be too risky to strive for or potentially harmful to achieve. But... we shouldn't make them our leaders, not in an organized, civil society. They're the ones who are most likely to say 'pick me, I'll get things done,' and the least likely to assert themselves toward anything resembling the common good.
So... my advice to you would be - don't be so hard on yourself! (It might sound trite, but it isn't. Just FYI - I spent years dealing with a disabling panic and anxiety disorder. I recovered, even though I was certain for many years that my life was over and nothing good would ever come of it. I know that of which I speak...) You seem like someone experiencing a lot of disillusionment It's OK - you will find a kind of new equilibrium when this stuff has made its way through your system. You won't quite be the same person you were, and you probably won't expect people to behave as you once did (that's why you're so frustrated about what's going on right now - the behavior you're witnessing is very disappointing to you), but you'll be wiser and when you take action in the future about things that matter to you, you won't be relying on people to behave in ways that, it turns out, they generally don't. Don't expect people in general to do good things - it's nice when they do, and it may happen at times and in ways that will surprise you, but you won't be dependent on their behavior when you decide something is worth striving for.
There are many Sanders and Clinton supporters whose writing on DU seem to be limited to variations of 'big win for my team' and 'monster fail for your team.' And I guess that's human nature - we're inclined to group-association as a species. So a lot of people waste a lot of time cheering and jeering, when they would be much better off reading what others who have been through scraps they've never experienced have to say. And a lot of narcissist politicians love them for it. Without crowds of cheerers and jeerers, they'd actually have to make rational arguments about why people should trust their judgement. Which would probably sound a lot like crickets chirping.
Well, that sucks, but it's the way people are. Understanding how people are is the first step toward useful change. If you want to get the attention of a lot of people and persuade them to act in a manner you consider worthwhile, you'd better first understand our tendency to arbitrarily divide up into teams, then fight like hell against the other side. Some else will be trying to use that to keep people from even paying attention to you. And that's when cynicism is valuable, because you're not expecting people to behave differently than they have for a very, very long time. You'll be ready for it, and when you fix your aim on other aspects of people: the capacity to value and strive for a better future for us all, the power of the drive to help others while at the same time helping yourself, the ability to make sacrifices to shape a better future.
Take care of yourself, pat 
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