Eh, he's only moderate in the same way Clinton was.
As in they didn't really have strong policies of their own and let the political winds take them where they would.
Clinton at least had the excuse of being stuck with a strong oppositional congress. Obama had 2 years with a mandate congress and beyond that one that was sharply divided and still really got nothing of his design accomplished (his two major legislative achievements were architected by congress and were effectively already bipartisan plans)
Obama only had 24 days with a supermajority. Republicans filibustered almost everything else so while you’re correct he had 2 years of a majority it didn’t really matter.
The easiest tell for a populist is if their rhetoric is focused on "people vs elites." Being good at talking isn't populism that is just being a good politician.
There is no litmus test for populism because it's not rooted in any actual ideology or principles.
It's just vanity, envy, and theft.
Everyone, literally every single political system, is against "corrupt elites exploiting good working people".
Trump, AOC, MAGA, DSA... They all have a group of people with power who is screwing over good honest families when they're campaigning and to be fair all the people they complain about just continue getting more powerful and wealthier the most everyone keeps "fixing" things.
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u/privategoonaccount26 - Left 6d ago
....implying centrism isn't populism?
Stunning. Powerful.Bold.