Word: populists
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...long time, the war on drugs was Jesse Jackson's signature tune, his issue. Fifteen years ago, Jackson was decrying drugs as America's public enemy No. 1. The drug issue is -- and has been -- the strongest, the most reassuring, the most universally appealing part of his populist message, the theme that seems to take some of the sting out of his radicalism. He speaks more convincingly, more plainly about drugs than about any other subject. No other candidate comes close to the reaction Jackson gets when he calls out "Down with dope. Up with hope." None can match...
...majority's norms only by the accident of his race. But this contender challenges all the established verities at once. For Jackson, the illegitimate son of a teenage mother, is a fiery preacher who rose to national prominence through controversy and tumult, and he now heads a left-wing populist movement that confronts the centrist assumptions of political life...
...holding meetings. Hundreds of supporters chased their champion down a dark street after nightfall on the north side of Milwaukee. Telephone calls jammed the switchboards at Jackson headquarters, and contributions poured into the congenitally ill-funded campaign at the rate of $60,000 a day. Small wonder that the populist preacher said with smiling satisfaction, "There is a kind of Jackson-action fever...
...experience. A candidate born out of wedlock can preach on the sanctity of the family. A candidate who was advocating economic self-help and personal self-discipline in the ghettos of Chicago can speak with deep credibility about lives lost to drugs and livelihoods lost to economic downturn. A populist -- and Jackson is without question the authentic article -- needs to define a common enemy. What the titans of Wall Street once were to William Jennings Bryan, the international drug cartels and the soulless multinational corporations are to Jackson...
Certainly, Jackson is the most passionate and electrifying orator among this year's presidential candidates, no tough feat indeed. But being is a passionate speaker is not the sole qualification for President. After all, avowed segregationist George Wallace once won the Michigan caucuses by employing a populist "send them a message" approach, similar to the one Jackson is using. Wallace's message sure was passionate and sure did move people. But we can all give thanks that he was not elected...