[lbo-talk] OK, Nathan

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Tue Jan 31 09:18:29 PST 2006


www.leninology. blogspot.com wrote:


>If anyone cared to examine the polls on policy, there is a clear
>basis for a left-wing populist political movement and party in the
>United States.

I spend a lot of time doing just that, and I gotta say you're overstating things here. Yes there's support for some things - a higher minimum wage most notably - but on other matters, like public health insurance and unions, the numbers are a lot more mixed, very dependent on wording and context. Americans, especially white Americans, are terribly afraid of anything that seems radical. I just read a WSJ poll that found 58% in agreement with the idea that the Dems should control Congress - not to push an agenda, but to act as a "balance" on the president, and prevent him from "going too far." As Alan Wolfe memorably put it, ambivalence is the default position of the American middle class. There's a long history that explains how we got to this point, but here we are. We make history, but not with the tools of our own choosing, etc.

Doug



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