Populism Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show

Four out of five voters today live in flyover states, their votes don’t really count, they are mere spectators. But it’s no longer a question of if, but when: whoever wins the popular vote will become president. National Popular Vote The post Make Every Voter a Battleground Voter appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The Democratic establishment doesn’t get that people vote their morals. So says our guest David Fenton, successful public relations veteran of fifty years. Civil rights, wars, climate change: he says these are moral issues and people vote with their hearts The post PR Professional of the Left: Win by Touching People’s Morals appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & R...

They feel betrayed. What used to be a dependable advocate for working families has, over the last two decades, morphed into being a second party of the interests of the wealthy. From his own experience, our guest author Les Leopold The post Why the Working Class Has Given Up on the Liberal Establishment appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

It’s a long term necessity, but tragically, short term policy-makers put off a solution essential to a strong economy and restoration of our republican form of government. As of today, both the economy and democracy are in a downward spiral. The post A Wealth Tax: Boost the Economy and Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Even Fox News is openly admitting that Donald Trump’s policies are destroying the American farm industry. The agricultural heartland has been solidly ruby red for Trump but, as farmer and advocate Anthony Flaccavento writes in The Nation, there’s a Farmer’s The post Trump’s “Farms First” Now Beginning to Revolt appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast &am...

You’ve seen the ads on network TV:Huge data centers bringing life to hollowed out communities. But the reality is these huge projects suck electricity and water and provide virtually no lasting jobs. Not just people on the left but people The post Risings All Over The Country Against Data Centers appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

At the nearly two hundred fifty year mark, we’ve already lasted longer than most great nations. As with others which declined and fell, a loss of confidence led to anxiety and the impulse for a strong man to protect us The post Is America on an Irreversible Path to Decline and Fall? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straight white male domination is The post Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

England’s Labour Party is a lot like America’s Democratic Party: all over the map. Both used to be the party of laboring people. The UK’s current PM Kier Starmer won claiming to be of the left. Now he’s pushing an The post Rising in the UK and the US: A Democratic Left appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

After 2024, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, but Zohran Mamdani may lead a way out. This week’s guest Fred Glass, talks about what early 20th century California history can teach us about the 2025 New The post Why Mamdani May Revitalize the Democratic Party: 1911 CA Precedent appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

What mainstream Democrats don’t understand is that anti-elites are economically progressive, while the elites are economically conservative. NYCs Mamdani won the primary by building an economic coalition. On this show, Joan C. Williams talks about her important new book, Outclassed. The post How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy...

In the 90s, the party took a turn to the right, taking the working and middle class base for granted. Instead they went for Trump in 2024. Clinton hurt this former base with austerity, and poorly thought out welfare reform The post Democrats Can Win Again: If… appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Starting a trade war is just stupid. But maybe Trump simply doesn’t really care about tanking the economy. On this show, Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher points out that the current president appears to be trying to steer America The post Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

You may have noticed a continuing trend of Democratic candidates sheepishly rushing to some imaginary center, and how well that hasn’t worked! On this show, Richard Eskow, former head writer for the Bernie 2016 campaign explains how it seems candidates The post The Time is Now. Left-Populists: Unshackle Your Imaginations appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show...

When did politics and trash TV become one in the same? According to author Ross Benes, no question: it was the 1990s. As one reviewer said: “this book helps to explain the election of Donald Trump in ways that most The post The Trashing of Tastes: When Did It Begin? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Democrats seem to always pay attention to the top, the federal races. But what worked for the right wing in 2010 can work for us: Our guest Eric Schmeltzer writes, in The New Republic, that to take power away from The post Republicans Got It: Bottom Up Works. Wake Up, Democrats! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Populism is the common language of America. Author and Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin notes people were not inspired by Harris’s “opportunity economy” talk. People feel disconnected and want a sense of membership, a sense of power, which unions used The post Toward a Revival of Left Populism: What It Takes To WIn appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcas...

Playing defense defines the playing field. Shall we just accept a world run by international mega-billionaires? On this show, Sam Pizzigati of Inequality.org argues now is the time to get ready to go on offense against what Trump Musk and The post To Win, Go on Offense appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

In the wake of the shocking presidential election, we Democrats now have an opportunity and an obligation. Once again, the heartland of America saw the Democratic Party as two-coast elitists. Our guest today, veteran political organizer Bob Creamer says despite The post “Defending Democracy” is Fighting for You, Not the Status Quo appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast &...

In a democracy, we expect to have our own say over how we are governed. There’s a great grumbling throughout America because many don’t feel listened to. That’s the impetus behind today’s Trumpist populism. This populism is the voice of The post Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy IS Awakening appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

As Americans, we want what we want right now. But it doesn’t work that way to make real political change. As with any mechanism, there are certain things that must be learned to make it work and achieve our goals. The post Nuts and Bolts: What Needs to be Learned to Make Our Agenda Reality appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

It may have the word “liberal” in it but it’s anything but. Until the Biden/Harris years, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party had its deserved image of serving the richest among us. Trump understood raw populist anger to win The post Waving Goodbye to Neoliberalism? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Since at least 2016, the Democratic policy has been driven by big contributors, yielding rural voters to Trump who at least pretended to hear them. With Minnesota Governor Tim Walz nominated as VP for Harris, middle America people who had The post With Walz, Can Democrats Win Back Rural America? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

There is a palpable movement under Kamala Harris; so why is party leadership still so out of touch with working people as they were in 2016? Our returning guest, veteran party insider Norman Solomon, says the DNC is still top-down The post Dems Need the Middle Class: Why is the DNC Still So Corporatized? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

As Trump heads into the 2024 campaign, you might wonder who is behind it, who benefits from destroying our republic. Here is the story. The religious nationalists see him as a fierce leader. They believe God sends such kings to The post What’s Behind Trumpism: The Open Attack on Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .