Okay, Yglesias, Chait, Barro and other pundits of that type have a new gimmick: they say that Democrats should prioritize "popular things" and avoid "unpopular things." It sounds eminently reasonable! Who could possibly argue otherwise?

But folks... it's a trick.

In practice, "popular things" means boring, wonky economic issues, which are popular specifically because they do not make white men (like, well, the guys making this argument) uncomfortable.

"Unpopular things" mean anything procedural, and most social issues.

Civil rights, reproductive health, the courts, democracy reform, anti-corruption, racial equality, police reform, all get left aside in this agenda, the product of these things being controversial among, primarily, right-leaning and centrist white guys.

My point is not that everyone who espouses this is PERSONALLY opposed to social or procedural reforms. The point is that the "Do popular things!" framing always ends up in the same place: with issues that are unpopular with white men being dropped. https://twitter.com/Michaelander45/status/1314284173230825474