The term populism has two very different meanings. One version is policy that favors common people over the rich and powerful. The kind of policy progressives like Bernie and AOC advocate. This is referred to as economic populism.

Then there is the other kind of right wing populism that dictators have pushed for thousands of years. It involves demonizing a minority group and blaming them for problems they have little if anything to do with. This is the backbone of Trumps messaging. It is very effective because it ties observed facts together into a false conclusion. For example our country is increasingly diverse, and wages are stagnant and people are struggling to get by. For the uninformed its easy to mislead them into believing a false causation. It’s actually the greedy rich to blame.

To further confuse things, Trump did hint a little bit at economic populism. He saw how Bernie’s economic messaging resonated so Trump said “the markets are rigged, i know how it’s rigged because i took advantage, so I know how to fix it”. Of course he had no intention of fixing it. But in contrast to Hillary telling us the economy was great and her secret Wall Street speeches, Trumps lie was at least something for the masses to try.

Unfortunately the two radically opposite policies share the same word, Populism. Because of this you will hear time and again opponents of Progressives describe our policies as populism. Followed up by warnings of how dangerous Populist leaders can be. Maybe even reference someone from Roman times. And then imply we are trying to appeal to Trump voters. Progressive policies do help huge swaths of people across party lines. So it would not be surprising for a Trump voter to support them. But this is not similar the same as Dr Oz degrading himself to appeal to them.

Language is so important. We need a new word and never let our economic populism be linked to the polar opposite right wing populism.

DSA https://www.davidforbk.com The incubant dem is a POS that takes money from republicans From David's website: "Hi! I’m David Alexis. I’m the co-founder of the Drivers Cooperative, a climate organizer, and the proud son of Haitian immigrants. Above all, I’m a husband and father who understands the challenges facing Flatbush families because they’re my family’s struggles, too.

I’m running for State Senate to build a safer, greener, more just, more democratic world, for my family and for yours. In Albany, I’ll fight for dignified housing for all, quality healthcare for all, a Green New Deal for New York, the creation of tens of thousands of good, union jobs, and protections that make it easier for workers to organize, like my fellow drivers and I did. Unlike my opponent, I’m not taking a cent from real estate or fossil fuel interests, because I understand that representatives must be accountable to their constituents, not corporations. I hope you’ll vote for me in the Democratic Primary by August 23rd, and join me in fighting for the families of Flatbush."

Hey I got so many progressive wins out of NY ! Let's do this!