BOSTON — Michelle Wu didn’t just win last night’s preliminary election — she flattened it. Josh Kraft never stood a chance. The mayor’s victory lap was so commanding she could’ve coasted in on the MBTA, signal delays and all, and still left him in the dust.

Congratulations are in order. Wu has cracked the code of Boston politics: beam that trademark smile, take a swipe at Trump, and watch the votes pile up. In Boston these days, vibes matter more than results — and Wu has perfected the art of delivering the right vibes.

To her fans, she isn’t just running Boston, she’s standing guard for progressive America. Wu plays the role of a national figure, a resistance heroine, while the nuts-and-bolts work of being mayor fades into the background.

But Boston isn’t Washington. The city she governs is stumbling. New housing construction has cratered to a 14-year low, a dangerous stall in a city where rent already bleeds families dry. Addicts sprawl across playgrounds and train stations. Mass and Cass resembles a permanent encampment more than the capital of New England.

None of that mattered at the polls. Voters overlooked the spiraling housing market and street-level chaos because Wu talks the talk they want to hear. She rages against Trump and the GOP, and that alone is enough to cement her grip on Boston. Kraft, by comparison, looked like an afterthought.

So yes, hats off to Mayor Wu. She won in a landslide and proved again she knows how to capture the mood of her city. But the uncomfortable truth is this: Boston is limping, and its voters don’t seem to care.