The last time a powerful economic populist third party emerged in the United States, in the 1890s, the country faced massive income inequality and was in the middle of a tectonic shift from a primarily agrarian to primarily industrial economy. Today, the US economy appears to be in the midst of another disruptive shift, and a modern American populist party would, experts say, similarly seek to restore industries in decline and rail against any perceived abuses of those on the rise.
Populists create political movements by tapping into widespread grievances that other politicians have either overlooked or are too timid to tap. Donald Trump was able to fuse a brand of economic populism—one that shared some similarities with Bernie Sander's—with racism and nativism, most brazenly demonstrated in his "birther" campaign against President Obama and his incendiary rhetoric against Mexicans and other immigrants. Such appeals helped Trump win the presidency with 65 percent of the non-college-educated white vote, but they also limited the reach of his economic message and cost him a sizable share of working-class voters who aren't white.In theory, someone seeking to craft a new populist message could build upon Trump's popularity with non-college-educated white voters by uniting their economic concerns with those of the more than 50 million black, Asian, and Hispanic-Americans over the age of 25 who also do not have a bachelor's degree. This coalition of the "poorly educated," as Trump memorably dubbed them in one victory speech, would be the base of this new populist party. More people have been going to college to compete in the new economy, but two-thirds of the 212 million Americans over the age of 25 still do not have a bachelor's degree, according to the US Census. That's more than 143 million potential voters, about 27.5 million of them between the ages of 25 and 34.Continue reading on VICE News.
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