POPULAR POPULISM. The initial media narrative for 2006 -- namely, that Republicans lost because of the war, and to an emergent class of conservative Democrats -- is, I'm happy to report, starting to turn a bit. The New York Times is leading the way, with an appropriately titled piece yesterday by Louis Uchitelle ("Here Come the Economic Populists), followed today by a regional analysis from Pam Belluck about the Republicans' northeastern debacle.
--Tom Schaller
