Here in New York this week, showing his political force going 3 for 3 with his endorsements.
3 Democratic Socialists winning their primaries for the House of Representatives and also sending warning signs to the Democratic Party establishment about where the party is heading and the rise of the Democratic Socialists drawing comparisons to the rise of the Tea Party as well as MA in the Republican Party.
We are seeing a grassroots coalition of the lower as well as middle class electorate taking control of their parties from the elites.
Held control for decades.
Our next guest says that the PJD events rise from poverty in Ohio is a clear example of this.
Well joining me to weigh in this morning is Mark Bloomfield, chair of the board of directors of the American Council of Capital Formation.
Mark, good morning and happy Friday.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Well, since the last time you're on the show, you spoke about French socialist Thomas Piketty influence on the growing populism among Democrats here.
So tell us about what we're seeing in populism and the rise of it.
Well, thank you again, and quite frankly, I had to stop writing because the rest of your show is so fascinating and helping me with my retirement, but thanks for for giving me a chance to talk about my passion, politics, and politics on the Potomac.
To understand populism on the right, we gotta start with a book called Hillbilly Eligible, Elegy, which was published in 2016 by somebody nobody knew at that time, but we certainly do now, it was JD Vance.
And the relevance of it was that Trump got 4% of the vote in Washington DC in 2016, yet won the election.
It surprised many people.
The weekend after, I went to the home of hillbilly Elegy in Lackheed County in the Ozarks, where Trump got 84% of the vote to try to find out why.
What is this about?
And it's important to.
Understand it's about culture and economics, and to paraphrase a famous political observer, James Carville, it's about respect, stupid, respect for people, their values and their economic concerns that the Washington elites have ignored for so long.
The economic story of Lake County is a classic tale of global competition, shattered manufacturing job plans, and disappearing jobs.
In the 2016 and 2024 elections were not about Trump, but they were about the need for the change for the ignored Americans and so many blue collar workers, or perhaps even more so today with the wealthy getting.
Wealthier, the working class struggling, and the poor, uh taken care of by the state.
So the question is, who is taking care of the middle.
So it was great talking about populism on the left, and we got a result in in New York, um, but it's important to not forget that there's also populism on the right, starting with the perception of hillbilly elegy, but a guy who didn't think he'd be vice president when he wrote it.
Yes, and Mark, while I have you here, we have time for one more question.
So I do want to get your take on what we saw here in New York.
And as you mentioned, indeed we are seeing rising costs and inflation at multi-year highs here.
So why the results in New York and what does this mean moving forward?
Well, the results of the uh in New York were what we talked about at the last, um, uh, last interview, and that is the working class, uh erupting on the left, and that same thing now is happening on the right.
Um, and I think the question is, well, what happens next?
Well, it's very, very simple.
We now have 4 political parties.
We have the Democratic Party, which got slacked, uh, in the primaries by the Democratic Socialist Party.
So you've got two parties sort of playing around there, and then you've got the old Republican Party called the Grand Old Party, and we have a new Republican Party called um the um the um Donald Trump Party, or I call it the Grand New Party.
The Grand New Party, the Grand Old Party, the Democratic Socialists, and the Democratic Party are now 4 parties who are going to compete.
Uh, for the, in the midterms, and because there's 4 as opposed to 2, I think all the old rules about who's gonna win are can be thrown by the wayside.
Well Mark, we will have to leave it there for today and as you mentioned, 2026 is a midterm election year, so a lot to keep in mind as we head into the second half of the year.
Thank you so much for joining us today and thank you so much for sharing your perspective.
Thank you.
