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November 3, 2024 - 1:00pm
The Wall Street Journal editorial board recently said Kamala Harris’s election would lead to a “fourth Obama term”. Far from representing some “new way forward,” Harris’s victory would represent the continued reign of the longstanding Democratic power-brokers: “we have been searching in vain for signs that she would break from, or even temper, the progressive excess that defines the current Democratic Party.”
To some extent, Harris’s campaign could be seen as an extension of the project of “boardroom liberalism,” to use a term coined by Noam Scheiber in an influential 2014 New Republic piece. Scheiber observed that the Democratic Party under Barack Obama had become defined by a fusion of corporate machinery and social justice activism. Obama’s “boardroom liberalism” was “steeped in social progressivism, in the values of tolerance and diversity,” and asserted the importance of government regulation of the economy. However, it also presumed “a dominant role for large institutions like corporations and a wisdom on the part of elites. It believes that the world works best when these elites use their power magnanimously, not when they’re forced to share it.”
Boardroom liberalism would mean that elites from Silicon Valley and Wall Street would partner with a progressive clergy to enact sweeping “progressive” change. While in the Oval Office, Obama cultivated relationships with the titans of the digital economy, and large American corporations have increasingly adopted progressive social values as their guiding dogmas (as the rise of the ESG mode of corporate strategy shows). One of the reasons why Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter proved so controversial is because it meant the platform would no longer be a cog in that coordinated managerial-progressive apparatus.
Perhaps the epicentre of this “boardroom liberalism” approach to politics has been California, where the Democratic Party is the tribune of the consolidated elite. In her presidential bid, Kamala Harris has been the quintessential Golden State progressive and has continually ratified the existing Democratic power-elite. Echoing Obama and Joe Biden, she has endorsed the nuclear option on the Senate filibuster. She ran to the far Left on identity issues in the 2020 Democratic primary, and, while her campaign has sometimes distanced her from those positions, it also insists that her “values” have been consistent.
Harris has backed away from some of Biden’s populist themes. The current President has a more blue-collar affect, and his presidency broke to some extent from the Obama years by taking a more aggressive approach to antitrust policy. However, it appears likely that Harris will take a more corporate-friendly approach. For example, her brother-in-law, Tony West, sits in her inner circle and has worked as a top legal advisor for Uber. Then there is Lina Khan, the Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, who is celebrated by many economic populists on the Left (and on the Right) for her regulatory interventions at the FTC. But Khan could very well be ejected from her position under a Harris presidency as part of the Vice President’s push to appeal to Big Tech donors in Silicon Valley. And lastly, while Biden has extended many of Trump’s tariffs on China, one of Harris’s most consistent economic messages on the stump has been that the former President’s proposed tariffs would amount to a “national sales tax”.
Many voices on the Left have warned Harris that she ignores economic populism at her political peril. In its closing days, her campaign has not brought that economic message into sharp focus — instead returning to the anti-Trump invective that has grown so familiar since 2015. The polls remain close, and Harris could win on Tuesday. But the past can be a prologue to future discontent. The very spectre of coordination at the commanding heights proved a crucial precondition for the populism that has roiled American and global politics over the past decade. Doubling down on rule by the managerial elite could invite an even stormier reckoning.
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SubscribeLots of euphemisms here. It’s important when reading pieces like this to always, always translate.
“Boardroom Liberalism” – A radical, far-left agenda or “woke,” characterised by anti-white racism and related themes such as anti-Americanism and anti-Western hate. Includes trans extremism.
“Progressive” – See above.
“Managerial Elite” – An oppressor class ( leftists) fearful of democracy because they are scared of “ordinary people”.
“Institutions” – de-facto leftist dictatorships.
You can also read tolerance as intolerance.
Harris is the most feckless, inauthentic presidential candidate of my lifetime. Although she is a radical progressive, even this commitment is skin deep. She is nothing more than an avatar for the machine, waiting for marching orders should she happen to get elected.
Turns out voters don’t like it when you play both sides of an issue. MSG was littered with Israeli flags during the Trump rally, yet Muslim leaders in Dearborn have endorsed Trump as well. Ditto for Imams in Minnesota. I have never seen a presidential candidate get heckled so often at her own political rallies.
If she manages to win the election, it is 100% due to the Democrat political machine and its operatives in the regime media. No one knows who she is because there is nothing to know. There is no there there.
I take it you recall when she said on national TV that Joe Biden is not qualified to be President because he is a sex criminal. I wish I had a video of that and of her statement accepting becoming his VP candidate.
Here are a couple interesting videos from very non-political influencers – Canadian guys who post videos trying to bring people together in a variety of settings. I would describe them as woke, but not in a political way.
One video is their interaction with people at a Trump rally. They follow the same format at a Harris rally. They ask rally attendees how they feel about supporters of the other party. The results are not surprising, but still shocking. Hint: Talking to people at a Harris rally is like trying to strike up a conversation with Champagne Socialist.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MZu5YQwuCpQ
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MZu5YQwuCpQ
They’re the same link to the one about the Trump rally.
Thanks for this, Jim! It’s very cool as a Canadian subscriber to this British-based news platform to discover a a new cool Canadian youtube channel I wouldn’t have otherwise stumbled upon. Love these guys. When thinking about political polarization and my own swing since Covid from somewhat progressive left-centre to centre-right, I realized that I have elements of both and all. The Young Republican chap in the video nailed it..when you lead with an attitude of love and openness you can have room in your psyche to attend to the diverse opinions of others without feeling threatened. I still need to watch the clip where they attend the Kamala rally…
Two separate comments thrown into moderation. You’re effing losing me Unherd. Even at half price, I’m on the edge of frickin walking. Not one time ever have I had a comment moderated at the Free Press. That is your competition.
Fair comment. The IT management on this website is fifth rate.
Another issue: what’s happened to the scrollbar (laptop version)? Having to use up/down arrows on a keyboard, after no problem prior to about three days ago, is a right pain and totally avoidable.
Come on Unherd, get your act together.
Harris is the most feckless, inauthentic presidential candidate of my lifetime. Although she is a radical progressive, even this commitment is skin deep. She is nothing more than an avatar for the machine, waiting for marching orders should she happen to get elected.
Turns out voters don’t like it when you play both sides of an issue. MSG was littered with Israeli flags during the Trump rally, yet Musl!m leaders in Dearborn have endorsed Trump as well. Ditto for !mams in Minnesota. I have never seen a presidential candidate get heckled so often at her own political rallies.
If she manages to win the election, it is 100% due to the Democrat political machine and its operatives in the regime media. No one knows who she is because there is nothing to know. There is no there there.
Boardroom “Liberalism” is more like “Fascism Lite”.
In America, the collaborating parties described here are called the Deep State. They’re an unofficial political party and represent a surreptitious oligarchy that dominates the USA.
It’s a good thing that unlike Harris, Trump is a man of the people, not beholden to any rich folk. In fact, in 2015 he said “I don’t need anybody’s money,” he said as he announced his candidacy in June. “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.” He’s kept his word. Not a dime from the rich, not a dime from the poor.
His friend, an ordinary guy, Elon was an illegal immigrant, showing how broad his appeal is. Other friends, like David Sachs are bring other friends to parties for him who are just ordinary guys, not looking for quid pro quos
Thank God Mr. Trump isn’t beholden to any corporate types! Or, God forbid venture capitalists!
Philip demonstrates why sometimes speaking removes all doubt.
I got 26 emails today from Trump today requesting a donation.
Philip L is soooooo good at sarcasm. It makes him seem sooooooooooooo witty and clever.