http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/democrats-populism-movement-america-20150619by John B. Judis
June 20, 2015
For many progressives, the argument was not simply that ending economic inequality was the right thing to do; it was that a populist campaign built around this theme would mobilize what strategists call a "new American majority" or a "rising American electorate"—allowing Democrats to take back the country that they thought they had won in November 2008.
Can this actually work? I would like to think so; the goal of reducing economic inequality is certainly worthwhile. And many of the policies that progressives are promoting under the umbrella of their developing anti-inequality crusade—from raising the minimum wage to requiring paid sick leave to strengthening bank regulation to increasing spending on science, education, roads, and bridges—have merit. But after talking to leaders of this network in recent weeks, and reading carefully the papers and essays that promote the new strategy, I have my doubts about whether a political campaign built around these kinds of proposals will, in fact, create a new Democratic majority.
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