re: #140 Interesting Times

I’ve posted a lot of material about this, and (perhaps contrary to the prevailing view here), I do think the Dems made a huge mistake in underestimating the appeal of economic populism (yes, I know HRC tried to put forth progressive policies, but they weren’t articulated in a way that reached the people she needed to reach - namely, low-info voters who could never be arsed to visit the policy section of a website and only respond to feel-good bumper-sticker slogans)

Now…would Bernie have won? There’s no way I can say with 100% certainty how he would’ve fared under sustained GOP attack (though every criticism you could have leveled against him, e.g. too cozy with Russia, applied 100-fold to trump). I also can’t say if the POC vote would’ve come through for him in the end. I do feel confident, however, in saying that his populist rhetoric would’ve appealed to a good chunk of the low-info, angry, “fuck the establishment” types who broke for trump, esp. in the so-called “Brexit” states.

So maybe Elizabeth Warren would’ve been the ideal nominee last year… :/

I think the struggle is framing a populist message with a message that is truly inclusive towards all. I’m not anti-populist but I think populist campaigns left and right sometimes over simplify matters. I felt Trump definitely did that and Bernie did too.