Monday, November 30, 2020

Joe Biden as elite and/or elitist? That's the GOP's new "party line"

That's the line Republicans are pushing these days, as outlined in this Washington Post story by Toluse Olorunnipa, "Republicans lob accusations of elitism at ‘Middle Class Joe’ — a sign of the upended politics of populism."  Here's an excerpt:

President-elect Joe Biden, a state-college graduate who was once the poorest man in the U.S. Senate, is facing accusations of elitism from Republicans after defeating a billionaire incumbent with an Ivy League degree — a sign of how the politics of populism have been upended and redefined by President Trump.

In recent days, Republican lawmakers have sought to describe Biden’s early Cabinet selections as well-heeled and well-pedigreed but out of touch with the kinds of problems facing everyday Americans.

After Biden won the presidency in part by claiming a larger share of college-educated suburban voters, some of his GOP foes see his early moves as an opportunity to brand him as an elitist president catering to the nation’s coastal professionals at the expense of its heartland laborers. The burgeoning dynamic underscores how the battle over populism is likely to animate the nation’s politics even after Trump leaves the White House and is replaced by a man who has called himself “Middle Class Joe.”

As my mom would say, surely "this is the pot calling the kettle black."  

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