Obama's Two Populisms: A Muddy Message?

David Corn

Columnist

Posted:

01/27/10

There are essentially two types of populism. One slams Big Bidness; the other, Big Guv'mint. These two attacks can be merged, especially when government officials and corporate bigwigs are in cahoots. But often, liberal populists blast away at corporate evildoers (such as Wall Streeters) who screw consumers and exert undue influence on the political system, and conservative populists train their fire on money-wasting public officials who govern for their own sake and exploit their derived-from-the-people power. In recent days, Obama pulled a leftward populist pivot, proposing new taxes and restrictions on the big banks and financial institutions that caused an economic collapse with their fast-money shenanigans.

Then Obama did another pivot, and his aides announced he would unveil a spending freeze in his State of the Union speech on Wednesday night. This sort of move has typically been the cri de coeur of conservative populists: just get those spendthrifts in Washington to stop wasting our money! (Think Ross Perot in 1992.) The freeze will cover what's known as non-defense discretionary spending -- not the Pentagon, not Medicare and other entitlements -- and it will save merely $15 billion in the first year, a mere pittance in fiscal terms. But it's a symbolic bow to the right -- and caused progressives who had cheered Obama's pokes at Wall Street to scream in frustration. New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman called the move "appalling," "bad economics," and "a betrayal of everything Obama's supporters thought they were working for." Krugman went on: "Just like that, Obama has embraced and validated the Republican world-view -- and more specifically, he has embraced the policy ideas of the man he defeated in 2008." (And many conservatives decried Obama's proposal as insufficient.)

Moreover, on the same day Obama's spending freeze -- or betrayal -- was in the news, the president lunched at 1600 Pennsylvania with CEOs of ExxonMobil, J.P. Morgan, Chase, State Farm Insurance, and other major firms. The corporate honchos had to provide the White House credit card information, so the taxpayers would not pick up the tab for their grub. Nevertheless, this was hardly how a populist of the left would spend his mid-day. Asked about this gathering, press secretary Robert Gibbs explained, "There are a lot of people in that lunch that have said things that are in disagreement with what the president has talked about, but that doesn't -- simply because they may disagree on some issues doesn't mean they're not going to talk on a whole range of issues relating to the soundness of our economy."

Put this all together and what do you get? A confusing populism. With lousy approval numbers (especially among independents) and the special election Senate defeat in Massachusetts, Obama is obviously trying to appeal to folks who want to hammer Wall Street and to those who fear the federal government is going hog-wild. But the Obama administration is cramming these different messages into a tight space. In doing so, is Obama stepping on his own toes?

In a political-media environment that can best be described as cluttered, a politician or leader has to take clear and bold steps to send a message that registers. And these recent populist jabs may not be clear or bold enough to cause voters (especially those wishy-washy indies) to rally behind Obama. Perhaps Obama will offer a breakthrough moment in his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night. But the preliminary indicators don't make that a betting favorite.

What might a breakthrough look like? Well, you'd know it when you see it. For inspiration, Obama could look at John F. Kennedy's 30th press conference, held on April 11, 1962. At the time, US Steel and several other steel companies were raising prices, in violation of a deal the administration had brokered. And JFK let loose:

In this serious hour in our nation's history, when we are confronted with grave crises in Berlin and Southeast Asia, when we are devoting our energies to economic recovery and stability, when we are asking Reservists to leave their homes and families for months on end, and servicemen to risk their lives -- and four were killed in the last two days in Viet Nam -- and asking union members to hold down their wage requests, at a time when restraint and sacrifice are being asked of every citizen, the American people will find it hard, as I do, to accept a situation in which a tiny handful of steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds their sense of public responsibility can show such utter contempt for the interests of 185 million Americans.

Kennedy noted that a rise in steel prices

would increase the cost of homes, autos, appliances, and most other items for every American family. It would increase the cost of machinery and tools to every American businessman and farmer. It would seriously handicap our efforts to prevent an inflationary spiral from eating up the pensions of our older citizens, and our new gains in purchasing power. It would add . . . an estimated one billion dollars to the cost of our defenses, at a time when every dollar is needed for national security and other purposes. It would make it more difficult for American goods to compete in foreign markets, more difficult to withstand competition from foreign imports.

Kennedy clobbered the bums, accusing these execs of robbing jobs from Americans, imperiling the elderly, and weakening national security -- just to line their own pockets. Plus, he noted that the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission would consider price-fixing investigations.

This smack-down was hard not to notice. By the way, Big Steel backed off on the price hike. Some historians have criticized Kennedy for having manhandled the steel industry and alienating the corporate world. But there's no denying Kennedy's populist message of that moment certainly resonated. Obama the Populist (of whichever side) could use such a moment.

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