16 comments

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  Howie Kurtznot

  10 months ago

  Interesting overview. Urban populations are rising now, rural ones steadily declining. Perhaps an urban populism will emerge and look very different from Wasilla wahooism..
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  Schipperke

  10 months ago

  Great article, thank you. The comparisons to the McCarthy era struck home hard.
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  12345666666

  10 months ago

  populism -- when republicans do it, they talk about good christians and their pregnant teenagers
  
  populism -- when democrats do it, it's called class warfare
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  eagleye

  10 months ago

  Mr. Kazin,
  
  Great article, thanks. The most effective thing that Democrats could do is work to destroy the myth of the Republican "conservative." They are almost non-existent, and were put on the endangered species list about the time that Reagan and Lee Atwater kicked off the righwing jihad that still defines our political culture. Liberals could get along just fine with honest, old-fashioned American conservatives, and share many of their values. I think the best thing that could happen in this nation is the re-emergence of decent conservatism, and the dire condition of the Republican party at the moment opens the door for some fresh leadership that could re-capture the institution that is presently controlled by mad imperialists and economic predators.
  
  It was a real hoot watching McCain and Mitt Romney at the GOP Convention. Two white guys with a combined net worth of something like $3 billion calling Obama an "elitist." Oy....
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  Henry

  10 months ago

  Unfortunately people who think are, by the Republican definition, not ordinary people. Colbert had that nailed from the start.
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  JWKuruc

  10 months ago

  Mr Kazin seems to have forgotten the crooked last two election cycles. I'm beginning to think there've been almost nothing but crooked elections...no better than a "3rd world" country at which we point our fingers as bad news boyz. A runny pox on ALL criminal politicians!!!
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  Paula Hall

  10 months ago

  The solution isn't for a particular party to win the battle to assume the "populist" label. Populism means pandering not to the best in people, but to the worst. It is pandering to fear and insecurity, not courage and optimism.
  
  The solution isn't for Obama and the Left to loudly play Robin Hood, any more than it is for McCain and the Right to worship anti-intellectualism.
  
  The solution is to work to establish a culture where neither material nor intellectual achievement is resented, but aspired to and celebrated. A single election will not effect this change. A pro-reason cultural movement will.
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  kd oklahoma

  10 months ago

  There are many things that Palin is doing and has done that truly bother me as a Christian, yet so many Christians seem to think that it is okay. As a Christian, I've witnessed many great Christians, and they are kind and wouldn't hurt anyone, they set out to set good examples...good stewards of God and of their church. Good Christians are there for their children and set good examples for all to follow. But most of all, the Christians that I believe to be a wonderful examples of what God truly wants, are non judgmental, extend their hands out to help anyone in need and if they can't help them, they will find someone who will.
  
  This is very very different in what I see of Ms. Palin. She comes across as being a very cut throat type of leader...get in her way and she becomes vindictive. She has five children, 4 at home, one of which has down syndrome and is about 4 mo old. I see her putting her political career ahead of her children, even if it hurts them, like when she acknowledging that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant to the whole world, not caring what it did to her daughter, or the baby she carries.
  
  I watch her showing off her special needs baby to the crowds, as if it were a symbol of pro-life, to me it looked like a political prop to bring in the votes. I listen to her speeches and hear the vicious, hateful and snide speeches that she gives. I quit counting after I head 10 lies which easily spewed through her lips. She calls herself a "barricuda " a "pit dog wearing lipstick"....she looks that way, hateful, dangerous, and never giving up, a person that is more concerned with her agendas and what she wants, than she is with what she can do for her community, her family, her church, or her country.
  
  I had listened to Obama and I listened to McCain, then I listed to Biden and then to Palin. Palin's unchristian behavior worried me, so I paid more attention. Part of me wanted to vote for her because she says she is a Christian, but part of me felt that she wasn't acting like a Christian. I ended up thinking that if I behaved the way she was, what would God think of me? It was at this point that I knew I couldn't vote for her, she doesn't have my values.
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  abacus101

  10 months ago

  kd oklahoma: Here's a Joe Biden Quote. This sizes his Christian Faith up.
  
  (SOURCE)
  Biden’s Embellishments Could Provide Easy Fodder for GOP
  by FOXNews.com
  Saturday, August 23, 2008
  By Bill Sammon
  
  Biden also used unusually strong language to ridicule those who believe in creationism or intelligent design.
  
  “I refuse to believe the majority of people believe this malarkey!” the senior senator from Delaware exclaimed.
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  aerdrie

  10 months ago

  abacus101
  
  Not supporting intelligent design and creationism does not equate to not being a Christian. Especially when you take it out of context like you did.
  
  Neither intelligent design nor creationism should be taught in schools alongside science, because it is not science. It is Biblical studies.
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  abacus101

  10 months ago

  aerdrie: Whether intelligent design should be taught in school was not a question. It is much easier however to question where Mr Biden's Catholic Faith resides. I've heard it applied to be on his sleeve since he has been chosen. I also believe for a fact that the teachings of his faith only teach that the world was created by a creator. Do you know different? Wherever you've dug up your doctrine of Christianity and his faith as well as this being out of context, I'd like to hear more.
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  Don Myers

  10 months ago

  The problem is Democrats are afraid to say boo! The boo in this campaign is that McCain obviously wants to play Commander and Chief. Democrats have got to ask him about such things as military drafts in order to replenish a weakened force and tax hikes in order to rebuild the military's hardware. If McCain's answer to all of the military situations is to kick butt then the Democratic response must be "tell us how you are going to do that" and then offer obvious ways if McCain isn't being specific. The Pentagon and the old industrial base would do anything to get this guy into Washington including having a puppet from Alaska as VP
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  abacus101

  9 months ago

  NO politician ever gives that full of a answer.
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  stephennnn

  9 months ago

  The Democrats have been surprised by several Republican attacks on their most cherished positions. The Republicans have suggested that: 1) They are true agents of change; 2) Women’s issues are not under the complete domain of the Democratic party; 3) Obama is not the only super star in the political arena; 4) In spite of all evidence to the contrary it is the GOP that best exemplifies the aspirations of Americans. Contrariwise, the Republicans are all but silent on their role in our national malaise. In fact they even go so far as to suggest that it is not the economy it’s patriotism stupid. How the Democrats respond remains to be seen.
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  Luke Lea

  9 months ago

  What would a liberal, Democratic platform look like that would appeal to ordinary, working-class Americans of a red-state complexion? Well, here are ten things that might be on it: BornAgainDemocrats.com
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  lukelea

  9 months ago

  What would a liberal, Democratic platform look like that would appeal to ordinary, working-class Americans of a red-state complexion? Well, here are ten things that might be on it: BornAgainDemocrats.com
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