The Face of Populism

gonewt2012

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Jun 15, 2011
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The tipping point that the debt has placed us at makes a successful true populist movement, one based on substance rather than a mirage, inevitable.

The face of this eventual leader will morph over time. In 1992, we had the snappy wise old grandfather in the visage of Ross Perot, somewhat echoed by Ron Paul.

But why did Herman Caine get that initial blip? Why did he have that moment?

Because he was a populist. Not because anything he had to say was really all that bright or even sane, but because he kept it simple and tapped into that vein of anger that is out there.

Over time, the face of the populist will become ever more twisted with greater and more intense anger and frustration, mirroring what simply is in a people who somehow feel cheated and betrayed.

This isn't to pass judgement on any of that, it's simply what is.

Let me offer a metaphor here that requires a brief diversion of subject. Picture what would happen in the aftermath of a terrorist-delivered nuclear strike on an American city.

Of all that would precipitate from that, one facet would surely be that those who decry Guantanamo and who felt a self-satisfied justification in the face of Abu Grahib would, after the next election cycle, suddenly develop a nostalgic fondness for the days of George, Dick and Condalisa.

The point is that you might see Newt as distasteful, but the fact is that he's the best populist that you are going to get because he is the populist of the moment with the best chance of winning.

The longer we put off the inevitable, the worse it's going to get. Newt now or God knows what later.
 
The tipping point that the debt has placed us at makes a successful true populist movement, one based on substance rather than a mirage, inevitable.

The face of this eventual leader will morph over time. In 1992, we had the snappy wise old grandfather in the visage of Ross Perot, somewhat echoed by Ron Paul.

But why did Herman Caine get that initial blip? Why did he have that moment?

Because he was a populist. Not because anything he had to say was really all that bright or even sane, but because he kept it simple and tapped into that vein of anger that is out there.

Over time, the face of the populist will become ever more twisted with greater and more intense anger and frustration, mirroring what simply is in a people who somehow feel cheated and betrayed.

This isn't to pass judgement on any of that, it's simply what is.

Let me offer a metaphor here that requires a brief diversion of subject. Picture what would happen in the aftermath of a terrorist-delivered nuclear strike on an American city.

Of all that would precipitate from that, one facet would surely be that those who decry Guantanamo and who felt a self-satisfied justification in the face of Abu Grahib would, after the next election cycle, suddenly develop a nostalgic fondness for the days of George, Dick and Condalisa.

The point is that you might see Newt as distasteful, but the fact is that he's the best populist that you are going to get because he is the populist of the moment with the best chance of winning.

The longer we put off the inevitable, the worse it's going to get. Newt now or God knows what later.

I suppose there could be such a thing as a conservative populist. But a conservative populist (as in Herman Cain) who favors corporate business over average working class Americans is a contradiction in terms.

And Gingrich as a populist? That's a joke. Gingrich is a rhetorical political chameleon. He'll say anything and claim to be ANYTHING because he doesn't have any core political philosophy.
 
And Gingrich as a populist? That's a joke. Gingrich is a rhetorical political chameleon. He'll say anything and claim to be ANYTHING because he doesn't have any core political philosophy.

What you say is maybe true, maybe not ... but what is undeniable is that as Speaker, he ushered in the only balanced budgets in our lifetime.

It takes two to tango (well, in context, many more than two actually), and do you honestly believe that Bill Clinton wouldn't have spent that money if not for Newt? :lol:

To get that result, Newt made enemies in the Republican establishment, who, as soon as they could after they got rid of Newt, turned the treasury into a piggy-bank for their big donors, all the while buying off the left and the debt be damned.

To me, a guy who takes action for the public good (a balanced budget) at the expense of his position at the top of the political pyramid is the ultimate populist.

I wouldn't take his panderings on the nomination trail all that seriously.

Whether he's right or wrong, I think the guy truly is convinced that he has the well-being of the nation as a whole as a driving principle.

Can you say the same of Mitt?
 

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