In a remarkable political shift, the Democratic party appears to be embracing the kind of populist economic policies once championed exclusively by Bernie Sanders and the progressive left. The transformation became undeniable when James Carville, the architect of Bill Clinton's centrist Third Way politics, publicly endorsed what he calls "the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
The Unlikely Conversion of James Carville
The 81-year-old political strategist, long considered the bête noire of leftwing Democrats, used his New York Times column to advocate for policies that would have been unthinkable for Clinton-era Democrats. Carville now supports raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour, implementing universal childcare, providing free university education, and making major investments in public utilities.
This represents a seismic shift in Democratic thinking. Since the party's victories on 4 November, an unusual consensus has emerged across factional lines. The affordability crisis has become the rallying cry that unites moderates, populists and socialists alike.
Meanwhile, party leaders across the spectrum have quietly agreed to move away from divisive cultural issues and focus instead on common-sense appeals to American solidarity and equality.
Learning from History's Mistakes
This newfound unity faces significant challenges, however. Progressives must resist the temptation to reject centrist overtures out of hand. There's a danger that if moderates embrace social populism, some on the left might try to differentiate themselves by reviving fringe cultural issues.
History offers a cautionary tale. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt adopted much of the Socialist party's program in the 1930s, figures like Norman Thomas attacked the New Deal as merely carrying out "the socialist program on a stretcher." The result was political irrelevance for the very people who inspired the populist revival.
Today's left must avoid this fate by embracing the new populists of the centre and working collaboratively on visionary social policy.
The Missing Ingredient: Challenging Economic Elites
The populist turn will remain incomplete until Democratic leaders are willing to directly challenge the economic elite - the same wealthy donors who fill their campaign coffers. Candidates must draw clear lines between themselves and the ultra-rich to demonstrate genuine populist convictions.
Many moderates flirting with populism have yet to point fingers at Wall Street and Silicon Valley as villains of the contemporary economic order. Yet it's precisely because the wealthy have hijacked American society that so many working-class families struggle financially.
The statistics reveal the scale of the problem: since Bill Clinton's presidency, America has lost approximately 7 million middle-income manufacturing jobs while gaining roughly 700 billionaires.
Beyond Traditional Welfare Solutions
While becoming the party of "economic rage" might win elections, fixing the crisis requires more than standard welfare state solutions. The new social populism must address fundamental structural issues.
Success will require deglobalising the economy, bringing manufacturing home, reindustrialising the rustbelt, reigning in the hyper-global banking sector, rebuilding American infrastructure, and strengthening labour power on the shop floor.
This comprehensive approach would represent a democratic reorganisation of the political economy, shifting power away from the global rich and toward the domestic working class.
As one commentator noted: "This would be a populism worthy of the name and if moderate Democrats are embracing such a call, they ought to be welcomed with open arms." If implemented in time, this appeal might represent the Democrats' only chance of winning back the working class and retaking Washington.
