AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Democrats and Republicans traded visions for America this week, both in the State of the Union address and on the campaign trail. Both parties are embracing the core message that America's institutions are failing. But who each party blames and who they say can fix it cannot be more different. This antiestablishment thinking, known as populism, is dominating politics in the country in this moment. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro and NPR political reporter Elena Moore join us now to talk about why. Hey to both of you.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hello.
ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Hey there.
CHANG: Hey. OK. So let's just start with the pretty basic question here. Democrats and Republicans proposed very different ideological agendas. So how is it that both parties are embracing populism at this moment?
MONTANARO: Well, Ailsa, I mean, anger is really at the center of American politics right now. I mean, people are pessimistic about the direction of the country. They have a negative outlook on the economy and their position in it. And they're down on the overall political system, like you mentioned.
And populism is about pitchforks. You know, who they're aimed at, though, is pretty different. You know, for the right, it's about immigrants and liberal elites and blaming them for the economic problems of blue-collar workers and the, quote, "forgotten man and woman," which, of course, Trump ran on in 2016 and, you know, he did that again in the State of the Union address this week, taking aim at Somali immigrants in Minnesota for fraud cases in the state, saying that, quote, "Americans pay the price." For the left, it's really about corporations and billionaires and oligarchs, as they see it, with access to power and influence.
CHANG: Yeah. Let's talk more about that, Elena. Explain more about how all of that translates to a message for Democrats.
MOORE: Well, there's no singular populist message on the Democratic side, and part of that is because the party doesn't have a leader, and part of that is because the party is still trying to just figure out what their broader national message looks like after losing in 2024. But, you know, we do know that this is the party's focus right now. And we have seen different rising voices in the party champion economic populist messages and really tailor them to different communities in different ways. And I think one high-profile example is James Talarico. He's a Democrat running for Senate in Texas, and primary day for that race is next week, by the way. Here's how Talarico made his pitch to voters in a recent ad that ran during the Super Bowl.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
JAMES TALARICO: Billionaires don't just influence politicians - they own them. That's why I don't take corporate PAC money. It's why I fought to cap campaign contributions. In the Senate, I'll ban billionaires from making unlimited secret donations.
MOORE: So Democrats are really trying to mainstreamify that type of populist message, and I mean, it doesn't get more mainstream than the Super Bowl.
CHANG: I guess not. OK. Let's go back to Republicans. Domenico, what is the Republican version of this populist message?
MONTANARO: You know, this all goes back to the Tea Party movement, which came in response to what it felt like was a liberal direction that they couldn't stomach, a feeling that taxes and spending were too high as major demographic change was happening and happened to be during the presidency of the first Black president. Some of that frankly had a degree of racism attached to it. You know, Trump tried to other former President Barack Obama, pushing the racist birther theory, the false idea that he wasn't born in the United States. All the while, the, quote-unquote, "replacement theory," this idea that immigrants were going to change the values and the literal complexion of the country, something that started with white nationalists and white supremacists - that was taking hold within the Republican Party, and now there's the targeting of trans rights. And it's all related because the glue for the right-wing populism that we're seeing is culture and how their preferred culture is changing or being threatened.
CHANG: Well, yeah, like, let me ask you, Elena, because former President Biden was elected on this vision of restoring America to the way politics has operated for decades. And you focus on young voters in your reporting. It feels like to me that young voters do not want to see things stay the same way they have been for decades, right?
MOORE: Yeah. I mean, it's worth mentioning that by 2028, Gen Z and millennials are going to make up more than half of all eligible voters in this country, and young people are just increasingly distrustful of the political system. And there's reasons behind that. They've come of age during a time where government hasn't worked for them. Many struggle with student debt or feel like high prices bar them from things like buying a house or starting a family - these economic concerns that they feel Democrats promise to address and haven't. So when candidates are running on, like, an anti-status quo, affordability-focused message, I think it appeals to a lot of young people who feel, like, frankly, fed up with the politics of the past. And I think that's why you're seeing so many younger and just progressive candidates rejecting campaign dollars from corporations and special interest groups because I think they see it as part of that broader issue set.
CHANG: But Domenico, I mean, we've talked often about how Democrats are not exactly unified on how to resolve issues in this country, even when they do agree on what the problems are. So how does this kind of message work for Democrats?
MONTANARO: Yeah. It's a challenge for them. And one they're probably going to have to contend with more in 2028 because midterms are so much more about the party in power and a referendum on the president. But this is eventually going to be a real issue for Democrats to contend with. You know, the left often urgently demands results that aren't always easily achievable. And for a lot of Democratic operatives, this idea of not taking corporate money when the other side is happy to flood the system is like fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. You know, so all of this, you know, creates more antipathy, though, among the key voting groups within the Democratic Party, and it's why polls have shown the left down on the Democratic Party itself.
CHANG: Well, how do they resolve challenges like that?
MOORE: Well, we don't exactly know for sure how this is going to play out, but I think there just may not be one sole populist playbook for Democrats. There may be a shared broader message. I mean, take New York leaders like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Mayor Zohran Mamdani. These are people with roots in Democratic socialism, and they've become national figures talking about economic inequality and affordability. But then, you know, that same focus has had broad parallels throughout the party. I mean, look at Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger. She ran last year as more of a centrist, but, you know, she made economic concerns the key part of her platform.
CHANG: That is NPR's Elena Moore and Domenico Montanaro. Thank you to both of you.
MONTANARO: You're welcome.
MOORE: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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