The Hill: The Democrats Bid To Reclaim Economic Populism

These two things are mutually exclusive.

Populism and wokeness are mortal enemies. They are irreconcilable.

The Hill:

“With the passage of President Biden’s coronavirus relief bill, Democrats are setting out to reclaim their populist birthright. And, they hope, reverse their losses among white working-class voters.

The new law is being called “transformational” for a reason. It represents a fundamental shift in the Democratic Party’s approach to reducing poverty in America. The fashionable liberal theories about the “culture of poverty” that took hold in the 1960s held that what poor people needed was more power and better values. As if the government could step in and try to change those things without antagonizing the poor and generating a political backlash. …

In recent years, we’ve been seeing a striking new pattern in American politics. For a century, it’s been true that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican. What’s new is that today, the better educated you are (especially among whites), the more likely you are to vote Democratic. Democrats have become less of a populist party and more of a liberal party. The party’s core support now comes from the educated upper middle class — the “woke,” in liberal parlance. …”

Populist voters are social conservatives and economic moderates.