Progressive Populism w/ Corey Haala | MR Live

The upper Midwest in the 1980s faced a severe economic downturn, marked by deindustrialization (auto plants, meatpacking, steel mining) and an agricultural crisis (rising fuel costs, falling commodity prices, record farm foreclosures). This widespread economic hardship created a significant opportunity for the Democratic Party and the left to rebuild power by addressing these 'kitchen table' economic issues.

Corey Robin details the calamitous defeats for Democrats in 1978 and 1980, followed by the emergence of figures like Tom Harkin, Paul Wellstone, and Russ Feingold who advocated for a progressive populist agenda rooted in economic justice.

Jim Hightower's quote highlights a core difference: liberals tend to react to economic crises (e.g., plant closures) with solutions like worker retraining, accepting the market structure. Progressive populists, however, aim to fundamentally restructure the market to prevent such crises and ensure fairness for working people, challenging the underlying economic system.

Sam Seder references a quote from Jim Hightower in Robin's book, illustrating that liberals would suggest retraining workers after a plant closure, while progressives would seek to reshape the market structure that allowed the closure.

Despite the success of progressive populists in the Midwest, the national Democratic Party, under leaders like Tony Coelho and Chuck Manatt, consciously shifted towards attracting corporate money and focusing on 'electability.' This move sidelined grassroots organizing and authentic connections, opting for a strategy that prioritized fundraising and targeted voter contact over a substantive economic message.

Robin explains that figures like Tony Coelho and Rahm Emanuel focused on raising corporate money, believing the issue was being 'out-fundraised.' This contrasted with Midwestern populists who demonstrated the power of grassroots campaigns and authentic connections.

The pursuit of 'electability' often served as a justification for the Democratic Party to adopt more moderate, neoliberal policies. This approach, exemplified by figures like Bill Clinton, involved presenting a 'happy face' and accepting globalization as inevitable, rather than challenging the economic systems that were actively harming communities. This effectively 'crowded out' the angrier, more strident voices of progressive populists who had legitimate reasons to be upset with the economic system.

The discussion around Clinton's campaign and Dukakis's 'technocrat' image illustrates how the party prioritized a non-disagreeable image and accepted market changes, rather than pushing for systemic change, despite warnings from populists about the harm to communities.