Kamala Harris, Populist

Watching this week’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention, three things stood out. The first was the endless loop of Beyonce’s song Freedom (and no, despite the hype, Queen Bey did not make an appearance). The second was Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz declaring that the government should “mind (its) own damn business” on things like reproductive rights. The third was the mind-numbing repetition of the phrase “Kamela Harris, for the people”, including by Presidential nominee Harris herself.

Add these up and what do you get? Answer: left-wing populism. Picture an organized version of Occupy, the flip side of the right-wing “people’s politics” currently sweeping the globe. The Democrats are smart: instead of fighting this wave, they decided to surf it.

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