July 07, 2004

Thomas Frank Strikes Again

Kristof also takes a look at Edwards through the Frank prism. I think I'll be picking up this book in the next week or so.

Kristof also makes the following point about Edwards' economics, which I should've mentioned last night:
"Moreover, Mr. Edwards may continue to wave a protectionist cudgel at trade issues. That will win votes because manufacturing job losses are concentrated in swing states. But trade populism would mark a retreat from President Clinton's embrace of globalization. Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards should remember that Mr. Clinton won the electorate without turning demagogic on trade."

Question for discussion: can the left in this country reclaim the working class and work for a benevolent, fair globalization? Or should one come before the other?

1 comment:

MosBen said...

Well ideally Edwards' protectionist tendencies will meld with Kerry's liberalist tendencies to produce a fair trade administration. Realistically I bet that Edwards will get lots of play in swing states during the election but won't get much influence in an administration. Hopefully it won't quite be that bad, but the way the Democratic party has gone lately I'd be surprised if there were any major policy changes on trade.