Suburban Populism

Rahm Emanuel talked to David Ignatius about Democrat strategy for the next two years.

Emanuel believes that the November election voiced a deep public frustration with Republican leadership, and opened the way for what could be a long-term realignment, if the Democrats are smart. A key trend was what he calls "suburban populism.'' Middle-class voters are angry because they feel that their standard of living -- from education to health care to retirement -- is under assault.

Might less government and lower taxes help these middle-class voters? Or is the solution to redistribute wealth from the rich to the middle class? I think the real Democrat goal here is make the middle class dependent on government.

For a generation, GOP strategists encouraged these suburban voters to focus their anxiety and resentment on urban minorities, but Emanuel argues that isn't working anymore.

This is a Democrat smear. Opposing the welfare state does not mean resenting urban minorities. If Rahm Emanuel believes this, then his strategizing is not based on clear thinking but on leftist propaganda. Not a good sign for a political strategist.

"Today, the new welfare queen is corporate America,'' he says. Suburban voters, like those in the inner cities, "are angry at powerful citizens who are getting a better deal than they are.''

Corporations depend on making a profit for their survival, not on government handouts, so they are not really welfare queens. Democrat strategy is to whip up envy and hatred of corporations in order to justify expanding the welfare state so that the suburbs are as dependent on government as the urban areas are. Dependency on government = Democrat votes.

The secret for the Democrats, says Emanuel, is to remain the party of reform and change.

That will be harder in ’08 with the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The country is angry, and will only get more so as the problems in Iraq deepen. Don't look to Emanuel's Democrats for solutions on Iraq. It's Bush's war, and as it splinters the structure of GOP power, they're waiting to pick up the pieces.

The Democrats want Iraq to remain a mess that they can use to club the Republicans with in ’08.

Big business is, as Ayn Rand said almost 50 years ago, America’s most persecuted minority. The Democrat plan for the next two years is to continue the persecution.