Ezra Klein’s recent profile of polling guru David Shor has sparked a flurry of commentary on the idea of “popularism.” Klein sums up popularism (which, in a certain, perhaps jaded light, appears simply to be rebranded populism) as a strategy: “Democrats should do a lot of polling to figure out which of their views are popular and which are not popular, and then they should talk about the popular stuff and shut up about the unpopular stuff.”
As Shor explains it, he thinks the governing elite of the Democratic Party has lost touch with what voters actually want and polling can be an instrument for addressing this problem.
I sat down with regular guest Doug Bell to shift through the arguments between Shor and his critics. Among the critics we take up are Matt Bruening (who writes here and here about how nominally popularist policies on child tax credit would, if implemented, lead to a policy and political fiasco) and Ian Haney Lopez’s contention that conflicted voters can’t be won over by Democrats shying away from fights over racism.
Shor has started an urgent debate. There’s much he says I broadly agree with, and also much that would have perverse consequences—which his critics rightly highlight. I was very happy to have a meaty talk with Doug about all this.
(Podcast produced by Julia Elinor Peterson; post edited by Emily M. Keeler)
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