I, Flathead

Most voters are smarter than just about anyone has ever given them credit for. For instance, they will tell you exactly what they think. It’s the question that’s important.
What “people” were compelled to express to pollsters in those “alienation” days actually concealed a real and growing public assessment and understanding that wealthy persons shape the laws more than they could ever have imagined. Nowadays, a potential candidate might do well to stay out of this game unless and until he or she undertakes a serious study of populist thought among potential constituencies, filtered by honest self-evaluation. How else can one determine if a set of beliefs are in line with some kind of truth? Too much time and money is involved to simply experiment with half-baked concepts on real human beings, mis-identified as an adoring public.