corporate democrats

It's 'popularism' week in the commentariat, as pundits across the ideological spectrum discuss recent remarks by pollster David Shor. This problematic and imprecise term reflects a way of thinking about politics that is poised to reshape the Build Back Better debate, and other debates yet to come. That's potentially disastrous.

Shor has written and spoken extensively on the need for Democrats to back away from talking about unpopular ideas and listen more to pollsters like... well, like David Shor. Ezra Klein covered his ideas well, but the headline for his piece gets it wrong. Shor isn't "telling Democrats what they don't want to hear." Shor's words are music to the ears of Democratic centrists.

Shor seems like an engaging, bright guy. His 'popularism' concept is interesting, if not very well defined, and his framework makes the most sense when he's talking about phrases that poll badly in core Democratic demographics. "Defund the police" performs poorly among communities of color, for example, and it's easy to see why it's a problem.

The problem arises, as it always does, when Democrats craft tomorrow's policies on today's poll readings. That's like prescribing medication today based on what your temperature was last week. Poll results are transient and reflect the biases of the pollster. Most importantly, they fail to consider the political impact of policies that sound convincing when asked by a pollster, but which are infuriating and unfair once they're enacted.

Shor emphasized his own leftism in interviews and, to be fair, he doesn't say politicians should shape their policies on what polls well. He says they should talk about things that poll well and play down the things that don't. In the real world, however, there's not much difference between the two. You can't pass a law in Congress without talking about it. Even if you try, if it's unpopular you can bet your opponents will.

The problem with Build Back Better isn't that its vision is too grand. On the contrary. Millions of people in this country are facing eviction. Millions more--with and without health insurance--can't afford medical care. People are dying, going hungry, and doing without shelter.