The political pundits and spin doctors told us that, this election season, Democrats used a double-pronged strategy: align all Republicans with the failures of the current administration, offering a Democratic vision as the viable alternative, while recruiting Democratic candidates with a slight socially conservative bent to appeal to a broader spectrum of voters. The focus was on the seeming "centering" of Democratic candidates (a far cry from Dean's strategy in 2004). Lost in these analyses are the ideals of economic populism that the new class of Democrats brings with it to Congress, the tenets of which many argue they will have to enact to redefine themselves. This was nicely illuminated in a piece in The New York Times and by others over at Working Life. Read more about Economic Populism versus Rubinomics here.
About The Author
Alexandra Tursi
Alexandra Tursi edits the Visuals section of Identity Theory and also contributes to our Social Justice Blog. She is a 2005 graduate of Cornell University, where she studied political science. She is also a writer for Artscope Magazine. You can email her at tursita@identitytheory.com.