Writer sees growing populism, often rural, ousting politicians who have lost touch with common people

One of the definitions of populism, according to Merriam-Webster, is "a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people." For several years, some voters and politicians have said that U.S. politicians have lost touch with common people. Enter the populist movement, which has been around for more than a century but has varied from person to person and place to place, and has often seemed to be mostly rural, often in poorer areas.

Salena Zito

Salena Zito of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review writes for Real Clear Politics that the populist movement cost House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) his primary election last week and could cost Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) a runoff election next week. "It is a cautionary thread—yet most people in Washington do not understand this moderate-in-tone populist wave. First, the wave is not going to take out every incumbent, so no 'secret sauce' can 'fix' it; second, it will have broad impact on both parties; third, it is relatively invisible because it has no name, no brand or party allegiance," Zito writes. Populism is much more complicated than most people realize; it cannot be manufactured, cannot be forced, and no one person or handful of people can claim to inspire it. Populism, at its core, is driven by personal economics, disconnection from representative government and frustration with the lack of power to change either."

Republican strategist Bruce Haynes told Zito that Cantor "lost touch with his constituency; he became too Washington, too associated with the D.C.-bubble brand; he forgot how to relate and to be that guy from his district. Cochran is a creature of Washington, too, and is poised to lose to a mild-mannered state senator in his runoff.”

Zito writes, "What Cantor's loss should tell Washington is that local politics matter—but Washington tends to listen only to what the pundits, strategists, reporters and experts in Washington say. Many of those Washingtonians have never stepped into 'flyover country' unless they are in a bubble-wrapped press bus that feeds them their talking points and keeps them from listening to the locals in a meaningful way. A judgment call is being made across the country, and it is this: 'Are you one of us, or have you left us for Washington?' The elected incumbents who get caught on the wrong side of that question will be upended in this year's elections. They should serve as a warning to those running for office in 2016, to shed the Washington bubble." (Read more)