Welcome to The Uprising: Yes, Populism “Will Take Right-Wing and Left-Wing Forms”
In a typical Establishment-worshiping, populism-is-bad platitude-as-serious-article from The New Republic (no link yet – the article was forwarded to me in an email), we get a very interesting – and sadly, telling – example of how totally misunderstood America’s mood is right now by those inside the Beltway:
Bob Borosage, the co-director of the left-of-center Campaign for America’s Future, points out, “If the Roosevelt era is any parallel, you’ll get both a left-wing populism and a right-wing populism. It was not just Huey Long, it was also Father Coughlin. There is an anger out there that is populist and will take right-wing and left-wing forms. And politicians on each end of the political parties–aided by populist rabble-rousers–will start to stoke this anger and move it.”Normally, the party out of power would be poised to exploit the undertone of uneasiness in the public mood. But, as Democratic pollster Mark Mellman points out with audible satisfaction, “When you have a populism that is anti-bank, anti-Republican and anti-business, it is hard to see what the right-wing component of that is.”
Borosage is dead-on, and Mellman, the Washington pollster, has somehow forgotten about 100 years of American history. As I reported in The Uprising, populism has a right and left manifestation, and if Democrats don’t get out in front of this economic crisis, Republicans will pioneer their own brand of right-wing economic populism that could be very politically/electorally successful. Indeed, they are already trying to do just that. Mellman may want to wish that away, but it’s real – and Democrats would be well advised not to let it become more real.
Related posts:
- Taking Right-Wing Economic Populism Seriously It's easy to write-off batshit crazy narcissists like Dick Armey...
- The Uprising Out Today In Paperback Just a quick note to let you know that my...
- Who Woulda Thunk It? Populism Is Popular! How, in a self-described democracy, is it possible for the...
- What is Populism? (Part III) (There's been a blogger response to my recent "What is...
- What is Populism? (Part II) Last week’s post, “What is Populism and Why are Democrats...
