Populism's Gain Evinces Growing Distrust of Elites: Liberal/conservative Distinctions Are Becoming Irrelevant for Analyzing Political Culture

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How significant is it that former California governor Jerry Brown seems to be the front-runner in the race for mayor of Oakland, a majority black city? A national trend may be in evidence there (see "Oakland's Mayor Moonbeam?", Feb. 2). Brown, a champion of affirmative action and environmental issues, has combined this record with a populist image, holding forth on the danger of greenhouse-gas effects from a low-income neighborhood into which he moved, as head of an organization called We the People.

Despite the big-government substance of Brown's politics, he nonetheless has adopted a clearly antiestablishment style. Brown's admirers include Bill Kauffman, author of America First, a defense of American isolationism, as well as an intermittent supporter of Pat Buchanan. Kaufman believes that leftists Brown and Ralph Nader are useful for pushing the political conversation away from international entanglements and toward communal issues. The attacks of Brown and Nader …