The Indy in Iowa

A little snippet to whet your appetite:

This populist moment is likely confined to rhetoric and will ultimately be politically inert—even an Edwards presidency would, I have no doubt, be bounded by institutions and interests that would thwart most of his more ambitious plans, and any Republican nominee, including Huckabee, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of major corporate interests. But the rhetorical appeal, in different forms but on both sides of the aisle, is perhaps the most interesting story at the start of this unusually wide-open political season, seemingly reflecting the growing sense among a significant group of Americans that the final American frontier—the American dream itself—seems to be closing, and there ought to be hell to pay for it.

Wonderful perspective - an interesting take on two sides of the same coin - or something. Very interesting, indeed. I like the comparison of the populist message from the Democratic point of view (Edwards), the Republican(Huckabee), and the wierdly Libertarian(Paul), and how they differed in focus. The Republican and Republican/Libertarian find the focus in Others as in foreigners/people, the Democratic/Left finds the populist focus in Corporations. Interesting. That's only part of it - it's terrific.

Should be required reading for political science and social studies classes, I think.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi