President Obama’s agreement to extend the “Bush tax cuts for the wealthy” needs to be seen through the lens of contemporary populism. Populism divides the world between a small number of oppressors and a much larger number of the oppressed. The two parties have distinct populist narratives. But the Republican version has been winning the message war over the last two years.

According to the President, an economic elite and their agents (read: Republicans) are holding him, the political system, and 98% of Americans “hostage.” In light of the “shellacking” the received on November 4, the President and his party must temporarily give in to the demand of the “hostage-takers” that existing tax rates for high earners remain in place.

The base of the President’s party is up in arms and itching for a fight. Giving in to the hostage-takers’ demands runs counter to their reading of the tealeaves. In their view, framing the tax issue as a battle between the filthy rich and the unwashed masses will work to the Democrats’ benefit.

The Republicans’ populist narrative, on the other hand, identifies government bureaucrats and urban cultural elites as the villains who stifle entrepreneurship and look down their noses at people in the flyover states. This populist vision has more political support at the moment, which explains Republicans’ unwillingness to compromise and the president’s acquiescence to the extension of the current tax rates….

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