By now most people not living under under rocks know that John Edwards is considered an "economic populist." Unfortunately, the term is often ill defined, other than a sense of being on the side of working people and vague recollections about a Cross of Gold speech. For Edwards substantively "economic populism" means that he is committed to universal health care, to effectively eliminate poverty in thirty years, and supports Smart trade agreements that benefit workers here and with our trading partners instead of just corporations.
Beyond the specific policies John Edwards's value system is one that comes unapologetically from his small town working class background. But, mill working fathers and passionate speeches aside, what is too often missed about the John Edwards brand of populism, is his insistence on the marriage of economic and political empowerment.
The way Edwards combines promoting a fair economic shake for everyone with de-rigging the political system has appealed to me since he started doing it during his last run. Now, after eight years of top down politics and top down economics from the Bush administration, John Edwards's brand of democratic Populism is exactly what is needed.
His democratic Populism takes shape in a number of proposals, most famous is his career long refusal to take PAC or lobbyist money and his call for the entire Democratic Party to join him. More devilishly, there is his plan to force Congress to justify their own government funded health care as they refuse to enact universal health care for the rest of the nation. A plan Jake Tapper, with no apparent sense of irony, called cruel because it may deny coverage to Congresspeople with health problems in their families (Note to Tapper: millions of Americans face that 'cruel' reality everyday, something that, strangely, never seemed to concern Tapper a wink before). If the plan can make a card carrying member of the MSM care about some one's health care, it must have merit, even if it is just for the beltway elites. Baby steps, people, baby steps.
One of Edwards's more exciting democratic Populism proposals is his One Democracy initiative and its Citizen's Congress proposal praised here by Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Government Professor Tina Nabatchi:
Most of us have no formal way to participate in decision making about the issues of highest public concern Iraq, taxes, health care, jobs, global warming, the environment, education, Social Security; the list can go on and on. No wonder the CBS News/New York Times poll found that only 10 percent of Americans believe they have a say in what the government does a "good deal" of the time!
Finally, however, one of the presidential candidates is taking on this problem. Last month, John Edwards unveiled a government reform proposal that seeks to re-engage Americans with politics and government. His One Democracy initiative calls for the participation of ordinary Americans in politics through a Citizen Congress a program in which millions of Americans nationwide would participate in deliberations about critical policy issues, identify the challenges and trade- offs facing our country, and offer advisory opinions to leaders.
Edwards' plan has the potential to strengthen our national democracy and reverse the trend of disengagement among American citizens by offering them a new voice. It could help the public identify common priorities (not the priorities of special interests and business), foster common ground and consensus, and develop solutions for the common good. In doing so, it could create a broad public constituency to stand behind and support our leaders' political actions, however difficult they might be. Mobilizing and engaging citizens in this way could help build the political will we so desperately need to act on serious matters of public policy.
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The Citizens Congress is the flip side of campaign finance reform and public financing, which Edwards also supports. While the finance schemes are badly needed to limit the power and influence of corporations and special interests, the Citizens Congress is designed to increase the power and influence of ordinary citizens.
Beyond the specific reform proposals, this spirit of empowering people politically and economically infuses almost all of John Edwards policies, take his answer to TechCrunch on Net Neutrality:
In May, I – like thousands of citizens – wrote a letter to the FCC urging them to guarantee net neutrality. I believe that if we do not guarantee net neutrality, the Internet could go the way of network television and commercial radio - with just a few loud corporate voices and no room for the grassroots and small entrepreneurs. Our country is already divided enough between the haves and have-nots. Where we go to school, where (and if) we get health care, whether we can retire with dignity - we have big divides in all of these areas in this country.
While we work to create One America, we should not allow the Internet to be divided or corporate censorship to take root. That would make the other important work we have to do that much harder.
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In a way that no other politician seems to, Edwards gets that the unfairness of our political system is linked to the unfairness of our economic system. In a way that no other politician seems to, Edwards is committed and prepared to change both. And that combination of economic Populism with Small 'd' democratic Populism is what makes Edwards such a potentially transformational leader .
