Long had a similar effect on policy during the New Deal. According to scholars such as Alan Brinkley, Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Second New Deal" in 1935 was partly the result of growing pressure from the left, including the growing popularity of Huey Long. Described as a "turn to the left," this series of legislative actions included such landmark bills as the "Soak the Rich" tax bill and the Social Security Act.
TO DEPART from the Huey Long fantasy for a moment, one might expect that some contemporary leader would have taken up Long's populist banner already, especially considering growing popular resentment of the widening rich-poor gap and the legacy of the "Reagan revolution."
One might expect such a leader to step forward in this time of crisis. Sadly, no one has. While Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) continues to assert himself on the right, no strong leader on the left has cracked the whip on the White House and Congress.
It could be that Congressional Democrats have simply lost touch with their roots as the party of the working class; indeed, the Democrats currently in Congress are about as rich as the Republicans. Or perhaps the leaders are out there, but they just won't come out to play for fear of accusations of "class warfare," a Republican buzzword that--in Republican usage--can be applied to taxing the rich but not to cutting Medicare.
A long-time champion of the economically and racially oppressed, Jesse Jackson would seem the ideal candidate for the populist leader of the left. But Jackson has been conspicuously quiet on the budget negotiations, in sharp contrast to his front-and-center position on most issues (such as the Persian Gulf).
On the other side of the political spectrum, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke made a strong showing in his Louisiana Senate race by tapping the same disaffected voters to whom Long appealed. But Duke, unlike Long, insisted on grafting racism onto legitimate economic grievances.
Then there is New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a possible presidential candidate in 1992. In his keynote address at the 1984 Democratic convention, he came closer than anyone since to outlining a consistent philosophy for the Democrats. Cuomo described America as a family a family that grieves and lends help when one of its members is sick or in trouble.
Right now, though, Cuomo is busy with his re-election bid and seems unwilling to risk alienating New York voters by focusing on national issues while running for state office. Even before his campaign, Cuomo was always careful not to say too much about national affairs, lest he sound too much like a possible presidential candidate or something.
WHICH brings us back to Huey Long. If Huey Long were here, he wouldn't worry about what people thought of his ambitions. He'd look at the pathetic circus of budget negotiations and he would express the frustration of the American people. He would filibuster on the Senate floor, appear on every television talk show possible and hold press conferences denouncing everyone in Washington whenever he got the opportunity.
And the American people would be behind him. At Huey's behest, hundreds of thousands of people would write letters to their representatives in Congress and flood Congressional offices with angry phone calls. Congress would be forced to pass a reasonable budget just to calm everybody down.