Has this ever happened to you? You are struck by a problem, issue, or idea - you read about it and think about it, and pretty soon you start to see references to it all around you. You ask yourself, have people always been talking about this and I am just now noticing because it's been on my mind? Or was my original thought a sign of something bigger, was it insightful or maybe part of a trend?
I found myself in such a situation reading an article in today's NY Times about Democratic presidential candidates. The Times reports that candidates have consistently been using a populist economic theme. Granted it's the primaries, and candidates always veer toward the "extremes," but the article confirmed something I've been feeling for a while now.
I think it's safe for Democrats to be Democrats again.
Bill Clinton taught the party a "third way," which was useful and important to overcome the "tax and spend" stigma and make the party viable again. However, politics (like everything else) is cyclical. And I think we are headed toward a cycle where the majority of Americans are willing to embrace old Democratic ideals.
Let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent expire.
Use the money to help parents pay for their kids education, or to expand health care coverage.
Put a check on the unbridled private sector: Don't automatically support free trade agreements. Negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies.
The 6 years of Republican dominance showed Americans the value of some of the cornerstones of liberalism, as witnessed in the Democrats' midterm victories. Now isn't the time to back down, but to push forward. Because, right now, it's a winning message.
Take Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who beat an incumbent by 12 points for his seat in 2006. He explains his success in a state that cost John Kerry the presidency this way:
“That’s because of the economic populist message. [Ohio voters] voted minimum wage, they voted trade, they voted student loans, they voted health care and prescription drugs, over what their traditional conservative social values might suggest. And that’s the route to winning Ohio for Hillary or Barack or anybody else.”
Indeed, Nancy Pelosi et al. were swept into office on the promise to raise the minimum wage, and cut the gap between the richest and poorest Americans, which is its largest ever (by a long shot).
The return of economic populism has been brewing for a few years now, and I expect it to stick for the near future. Until the cycle turns in on itself again. Sometimes it's hard to tell when one idea produced or simply preceded another. And sometimes it's hard to tell which came first.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/us/politics/16populist.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
