Economic populism gains ground as both parties court midterm voters

Wall Street Journal survey finds majority support for economic proposals

Liasson, NPR’s senior national political correspondent, said ads from French Hill, Mike Rogers and Joe Mitchell sounded as if they had been written by Bernie Sanders’ media consultant, though all three are Republicans. Hill called for keeping Wall Street from buying up neighborhoods, Rogers accused pharmaceutical companies of ripping off American families, and Mitchell argued that politicians should not get rich while Iowa families struggle with groceries, housing and child care.

Liasson said those messages were scrambling older partisan definitions: right-wing populism once meant opposing socially liberal elites on the East Coast and California, while left-wing populism meant opposing billionaires and large corporations. She said a new kind of economic populism may be converging from the left and right.

Michael Kazin, a Georgetown professor and historian of populism, said Americans become more open to economic populism when they feel squeezed or worse. Kazin said: “Economic populism emerges when ordinary people believe that they’re getting screwed, betrayed by economic elites.” Liasson also noted that Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders appeared back-to-back at the same anti-AI conference.

Lake, a Democratic pollster, surveyed 500 working-class Americans without college degrees and with incomes under $150,000 in a poll commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is affiliated with the German Social Democratic Party. About 40% of respondents said they were cynical about the American dream and no longer believed it was possible. Lake described the finding with the words: “It’s a lie. It’s a false promise.” She said the rejected promise was that hard work and education would let someone do as well as or better than their parents.

The same survey found that 70% of respondents blamed extreme wealth inequality for ending the American dream, and 69% said government has an obligation to address that inequality. NPR’s swing-voter focus groups reflected similar attitudes. Participants agreed to take part on the condition that they be identified by first name only; all had backed Biden in 2020 and then voted for Trump in 2024.

Jennifer said the concentration of wealth among a small share was making the American dream harder to reach. Tony said he had nothing against billionaires but believed people who did not pay enough taxes contributed to economic problems. Focus-group participant Jeff said a handful of people, perhaps 10, held 50% of the country’s wealth and should be taxed heavily so wealth would trickle down to everyday citizens.

A recent Wall Street Journal survey found majority support for a set of proposals previously associated with Democrats: capping the cost of prescription drugs, child care and credit-card interest, higher taxes on the rich and Medicare for All. Liasson said the larger political question was which party could take advantage of this openness to government action to address the cost of living, especially at a time, Kazin said, when people were afraid.

Kazin said the demand was not merely discontent with President Donald Trump. Kazin said: “It’s not just discontent about the president. I think the fear of the future.” He cited fear about AI and China becoming the dominant economic power, then said the party that could show how government might help people and their children live better had a chance of becoming dominant.

Lake saw an opening for Democrats because the party is still seen as protecting working people rather than corporations, while Republicans also saw opportunities. Oren Cass, chief economist at American Compass, said the think tank was founded to work on the direction of the right of center after the Trump presidency. Cass pointed to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Republicans discussing “covenant economics” or “common good capitalism.”

Cass said the right of center had shifted over more than a decade away from what he called libertarian fundamentalism — the idea that smaller government is always better. Liasson said Trump had made it safe for Republicans to reconsider conservative economic policy, replacing the party’s orthodoxy on free trade and immigration with tariffs and deportations.

Trump promised to protect Social Security and Medicare, while his government intervened directly in the economy and took ownership stakes in more than 30 private companies. NPR reported that Trump also cut taxes for the wealthy, enriched himself and his family, and shrank the social safety net.

Lake and Cass each thought their party had the best chance of finding a political sweet spot: more liberal on economics than Republicans are now and more conservative on social issues than Democrats. Liasson said the party that captured the new economic populism could create a functioning, durable majority rather than another closely divided election producing gridlock. Lake predicted that populist candidates would continue to emerge on the left and right, bringing greater volatility and more outsiders elected to office.