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Episode 209: Popularism and the "Poll-Driven Democrat" as Cover for Conservative Policy Preferences

Added 2024-10-02 13:47:13 +0000 UTC

"Calls for Transforming Police Run Into Realities of Governing in Minnesota," cautioned The New York Times in 2020. "Democrats Face Pressure on Crime From a New Front: Their Base," claimed the paper of record again, in 2022. "How Biden’s recent actions on immigration could address a major issue voters have with him," announced PBS NewsHour, republishing the Associated Press, in 2024.

There’s an increasingly common ethos in Democratic politics: Do what’s popular. In recent years, a certain class of political pundits and consultants have been championing “popularism,” the principle that political candidates should emphasize the issues that poll well, in everything from healthcare to labor, policing to foreign policy––and deemphasize, or sometimes outright ignore, the ones that don’t.

It seems reasonable and democratic for elected officials to pay close attention to the will of the public–and, in many cases, it is. But it’s not always this simple. Far too often, the leading proponents of popularism, chief among them Matt Yglesias and David Shor, only apply the concept when it suits a conservative agenda, ignoring, for example, 84% of Americans support adding dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare, or that 74% of American voters support “increasing funding for child care,” 72% of Americans want to expand Social Security 71% of Americans support government funded universal pre-K. 69% of Americans support Medicare for All and so on and so on.

More often than not, leftwing agenda items that poll very well are never mentioned meanwhile that which polls well AND aligns with the interests of Wall Street and other monied interests, we are told is of utmost urgent priority.

It’s a phenomenon we’re calling on this show Selective Popularism, the selective use of polling and generic notions of popularity to push already existing rightwing and centrist agendas without needing to do the messy work of ideologically defending them.

On this episode, we look at the development and implementation of Selective Popularism, exploring how this convenient political pseudo-analysis launders the advocacy and enactment of reactionary policy as a mere reflection of what the people demand.

Our guest is journalist, writer and host of Jacobin's The Dig podcast, Daniel Denvir.

Guest

Daniel Denvir is a journalist, writer, the host of The Dig on Jacobin Radio, and author of the book, All-American Nativism: How the Bipartisan War on Immigrants Explains Politics as We Know It (Verso, 2020).

Show Notes

The Myth of the "Poll-Driven" Democrat Is Cover for Conservative Policy Preferences

Adam Johnson | June 25, 2024 | In These Times

Nate Silver and the Crisis of Pundit Brain

Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi | September 18, 2019 | Citations Needed

Do Border: Immigration politics and the nativist cycle

Daniel Denvir | Fall 2024 | n+1

The Pollster Getting Under Democrats’ Skin

Ryan Lizza | January 27, 2024 | Politico

Why popularism is good — to a point

Kelsey Piper | April 27, 2022 | Vox

The boring journey of Matt Yglesias

Dan Zak | January 11, 2023 | The Washington Post

The Case Against Popularism

Left Anchor | May 9, 2022 | The American Prospect

Democratic strategists are embracing ‘popularism’. But they’ve got it wrong

Steve Phillips | November 4, 2021 | The Guardian

Osita Nwanevu | October 28, 2021 | The New Republic

David Shor Is Telling Democrats What They Don’t Want to Hear

Ezra Klein | October 8, 2021 | The New York Times

What Democrats Still Don’t Get About George McGovern

Joshua Mound | February 29, 2016 | The New Republic

Masters of the Message

Richard Stengel and Eric Pooley | November 18, 1996| TIME

How He Got There

Michael Kramer | September 18, 1996 | TIME

All Things to All Men

William Safire | October 25, 1976 | The New York Times

A Young Pollster Plays Key Role for Carter

Charles Mohr | August 1, 1976 | The New York Times

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.

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