Word: populists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...lure away party stalwarts. Given the aura of their pedigreed leaders, the two parties still command a vast following among Bangladesh's population - a combined 80% by most estimates - and the length of the two begums' detention has drawn the ire of millions. As elsewhere in impoverished South Asia, populist dynasties hold strong. "Hasina had her shortcomings, but she is a legendary figure," says Abdur Razzaq, a prominent member of the Awami League. "Charisma is very important; it really means something...
There are a number of paths Obama could take in trying to make the economy his issue. He could go on a populist tear, blaming all of today's economic problems on plutocrats and multinational corporations. He could distinguish himself as a speaker of unpleasant truths--like the fact that today's high gasoline prices are as much the fault of American drivers as of anybody else. He could offer a compelling vision of how he'd steer the U.S. toward a better future. He could show that he cares about today's economic troubles by throwing out proposal after...
...could do a bit of each. Obama is clearly uncomfortable with populist fire-breathing--he does say he wants to hit oil companies with a windfall-profits tax (which might discourage investment in new energy resources and would definitely not do much to help motorists), but that's arguably less pandering than McCain's proposal for a gas-tax holiday, which Obama has outspokenly opposed. And while Obama says he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and other such pacts, he usually makes a point of defending free trade and globalization in the same breath. This...
These add up to what you could call the stock Democratic response to tough times. They're not necessarily bad ideas, but they're not what you could call new or transformative either. Obama throws in a few populist panders - he favors a windfall profits tax on oil companies (which could discourage investment in new energy resources), and says he would oppose raising the Social Security retirement age (which if phased in over a long enough period would be the fairest, most sensible way to ease some of the system's long-run funding challenges). Near...
...internal tensions within the Obama campaign in this laundry list. His economic advisers are moderate, mostly free-market-oriented wonks. His campaign strategists would presumably love it if he breathed a bit more populist fire. And the candidate himself balances a lifelong devotion to progressive causes with what seems to be a pretty keen sense of the tradeoffs inherent in economics. All of which helps explain why, for the moment at least, Obama's most compelling economic argument remains the fact that, on the economy, John McCain sounds an awful lot like George Bush...