The People vs The Elites

by digby

On the Stephanopoulos round table this morning they pretty much agreed that the Democrats have huge, huge problems coming up in 2010 because of health care reform. (In suffering or prosperity, it’s always good news for Republicans.) But Ron Brownstein drew the landscape rather adroitly, I thought:

The heart of the choice is whether either George or Al — Reverend Sharpton — is right about what Americans want from government, because what you’re saying (pointing to George Will) is that we have a fundamentally Reaganite moment here in which people are saying government is doing too much, we want it rolled back and what you’re saying (pointing to Al Sharpton) is that people are angry that the government seems to be protecting the rich and not doing anything for me.

And to the extent that Obama and the Democrats can portray health care as something that’s not for Wall Street, but helping to provide security for middle class Americans, they have a better chance of selling it than it might now appear.

I think that’s right, but I think he’s also missing the Republican play on this. They are going to say that the Obama administration protects the rich … and that’s why you can’t trust government, on health care or anything else. It’s not a Reaganite moment, per se. The message is going to be much more populist in nature, railing not just against the liberal elites, but the financial elites as well by virtue of the hands off approach the Democrats have taken to the banks and Wall Street. George Will may even end up hating the Republican approach. But that’s good for the Republicans too. After all, there is no bigger elitist than Pompous George.

The Democrats may be able to counteract this populist backlash with a smart rebound in the economy and a health care bill that doesn’t end up forcing citizens to subsidize obscene health system CEO salaries and corporate profits. But if they don’t, the Republicans can likely successfully make the case that the government and corporate America are in league to rip them off. Unless the Democrats get some piece of this populist moment, they will be left holding the ball for the wealthy and being blamed for the Big Government that protects them.

I get that the Republicans are clowns and that they may not be able to get it together in time for he next election. And they have some serious problems with their crazies right now, which includes some of their leadership. But it’s a big mistake to count on their ineptitude as an electoral strategy. They aren’t entirely stupid and are already forming coherent, resonant message out of all this. They happen to be pretty good at that.

I think both Will and Sharpton accurately read the public mood. But the problem is that only the Republicans are paying any attention to it.

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