The Risks of Democrats Embracing Eat-the-Rich Populism

The more President Donald Trump stumbles while trying to talk about affordability — Wednesday night’s bizarre speech was just the latest example — the more Democrats believe they have a winning issue in next year’s midterm elections. And why not? Trump’s approval rating on the economy is the lowest it has ever been, and a string of polls show many Americans are angry and worried about stubbornly high prices for groceries, housing and utilities.

But there are risks associated with adopting a platform of “pure economic rage,” as veteran strategist James Carville advised the Democratic Party to do last month. While there has long been a strain of populism on the left — just look at 84-year-old US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and his years of lectures about the 1% — there are signs it is spreading nevertheless and could be truly ascendent in 2026.