Populism
Rises Again
It is Friday May 20 of 2022, let’s begin another edition of the newsletter.
This week has been an interesting week in the American Polity. Voters went to the polls on Tuesday and selected some interesting candidates. In Pennsylvania, current Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman easily won his primary and will now face off; between Dr. Oz and David McCormick since the race is too close to call.
Fetterman, the popular Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, defeated moderate democrat Conor Lamb and progressive democrat Malcolm Kenyatta, even though Fetterman had some baggage surrounding him chasing down a black jogger with a shotgun. A few days before the primary, Fetterman suffered a stroke, and then it was revealed to voters on Tuesday that he underwent surgery to place a defibrillator and pacemaker. Fetterman is expected to make a full recovery. The race in November is a toss-up.
Republicans meanwhile nominated Doug Mastriano for Governor, the far-right individual who attended the January 6 terrorist attack on our nation's capital. Some Democrats in the keystone state are already jumping with joy prematurely because they believe Mastriano will be easily defeated. I'd suggest visiting Cumberland or even Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where Mastriano is the representative. People love him.
One see's a scenario where Mastriano eclipses Donald Trump in popularity and polls if he decides to seek higher office, should he win the governor's race in Pennsylvania.
Getting to Oz and McCormick, it is essential to note that Oz ran as a Trump Republican, as did McCormick. One thing to note about both of these candidates is I believe if they did win, they'd quickly become establishment Republicans of the prior Trump's hostile takeover of the Republican Party. Republicans who wanted a Trump nominee would have given the nod to Kathy Barnett, who claimed that the election was stolen, among other things. Oz would likely be a Rockefeller Republican, whereas McCormick would be a Toomey-like Senator.
All of this means for both political parties is this: populism has a home in both political tribes. More so in Republican circles, hopefully, Fetterman's populism is confined to the Keystone State. Already some are trying to expand the myth of Fetterman by arguing that he should run for president; this is how we end up with a full-on populist assault on the Democratic Party.