Reactions to Kevin Mattson's call for the left to abandon populism:
It would seem to be a historian's responsibility to make distinctions. Right-wing demagoguery is indeed unscrupulous and simple-minded. But there is no good reason to tar the left with the same brush. The original basis of left-wing populism was a frank recognition that both major parties had been captured by moneyed elites, to an extent that necessitated extensive grassroots self-organization in order to either regain effective control of the parties or forge an alternative. This precisely describes the contemporary situation as well. There is no "simplistic emotionalism" about this formulation, and it implies no lack of interest in governing (on the contrary, obviously) or lack of respect for expertise or intelligence. It implies only a willingness to acknowledge that class warfare -- one-sided, to be sure -- is and has long been a defining feature of American politics.
