From calls to “make America great again” to the Brexit campaign’s pledge to “take back control”, nostalgia has become a central element in far-right and populist political rhetoric. However, the causal link between nostalgic political appeals and voter responses remains untested. In this paper, we propose a new theory of how nostalgic rhetoric influences public opinion and voting behavior. We propose that nostalgic rhetoric serves as a shortcut, or symbolic tool, implicitly signaling a candidate’s commitment to particular issues and social groups, thereby shaping voting behavior. In two survey experiments across three European countries, we manipulate the use of nostalgic rhetoric in political statements, and measure its effects on voters’ perceptions of candidates’ social group representation and their policy commitment on the cultural and economic dimensions. We also estimate the causal effect of nostalgia on their voting behavior. Our findings demonstrate how nostalgic rhetoric influences voters’ perceptions by signaling a commitment to specific groups and policies, which, in turn, impacts voting behavior. Rather than merely appealing to voters who wish to “turn back the clock”, this study suggests that nostalgia is an effective means to garner support from groups with specific commitments and preferences, contributing to a conservative bias in electoral politics.