Linda McQuaig: The U.S. midterms were a reckoning against the oligarchs - Toronto Star

It’s true Americans were angry about gas prices, but that anger became fused with resentment about billionaire wealth and power.

Supporters of winning Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper react at his election night rally during the U.S. midterm elections, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 3, 2026. 

Linda McQuaig is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Bluesky: @lindamcquaig.bsky.social  

“Never before in all our history have these forces (of business and financial monopoly) been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.” 

Hard to believe those are the words of a U.S. president.

But they were spoken by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt at the final rally of his 1936 presidential campaign, sending the massive crowd at Madison Square Gardens into prolonged cheers of delirious joy.

That capped a fiery campaign in which FDR repeatedly called for reining in big-monied interests and enacting policies favouring ordinary people — themes that thrilled Depression-weary Americans, who gave FDR one of the biggest landslides in American history, with an astounding 60.8 per cent of the popular vote. 

We haven’t seen that kind of anti-oligarchy fervour sweeping the U.S. in 90 years … until now.

Supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton celebrate during an election-night watch party at the Marriott Kansas City Overland Park on Nov. 3, 2026 in Overland Park, Kansas. Hamilton defeated U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) in an upset, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the solid red state since 1932. 

Indeed, there are striking similarities between the midterm Democratic tsunami last week and FDR’s 1936 tidal wave: both are connected to the battle against oligarchy — a battle that was first waged with great passion by the Populist (or People’s) Party, which became a powerful force in U.S. politics in the late 19th century. 

Those sweeping Democratic victories of 1936 and last week remind us just how powerfully the anti-oligarchy message resonates with ordinary people — something worth remembering as commentators suggest the midterm victory was simply about high gas prices, not the appeal of left wing policies.

It’s true Americans were angry about gas prices, but that anger became fused with resentment about billionaire wealth and power, enabling Democrats to rally broad support for higher taxes on the superrich, medicare for all and higher minimum wages. 

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaks after winning the Texas race during a midterm election night watch party at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 3, 2026. 

There was unmistakable joy in the country as former school teacher James Talarico triumphantly declared victory over the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who spent $150 million in a futile effort to deny Talarico a U.S. Senate seat.

Let’s not miss the significance of this moment. It’s a chance for Democrats to reclaim the appealing tradition of Populism that inspired FDR’s New Deal “for the forgotten man” — an agenda which for decades championed working people and clipped the wings of oligarchs.

Starting in the 1980s, however, Republicans managed to steal the mantle of populism, distorting it so that the enemy was no longer business titans but rather teachers, activists and public health officials who (tyrannically) urged people to get vaccinated.

The Republicans pushed an agenda of cutting taxes (on the rich) and smaller government, presenting this as “populism” benefitting the people. 

Supporters celebrate Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa’s win after Texas Governor Greg Abbott conceded the race during the U.S. midterm elections, in Austin, Texas on Nov 3, 2026. 

This completely distorts the meaning of Populism. The original Populists not only fervently endorsed high taxes on the rich, they also advocated — and this isn’t widely appreciated — strong government with sufficient power to constrain eastern business monopolies, as political scientist Vanessa Williamson explains in ”The Price of Democracy.”

Sadly, the Democrats have largely let the Republicans set the agenda in recent years, abandoning the anti-oligarchy policies that made Populism and the New Deal so popular. 

With little opposition, Republicans have brandished their phoney populism, claiming to defend the working class. In fact, their mean-spirited policies do nothing to help working people but instead boost the fortunes of the superrich, leaving America today resembling the Gilded Age of the 1890s, when the rapacious behaviour of “robber barons” provoked the Populist revolt. 

Democratic US Senator candidate from Iowa Josh Turek waves after his win at an election night rally during the U.S. midterm elections, in Des Moines, Iowa, Nov. 3, 2026. 

The stunning Democratic victory in last week’s midterms represents a precious opportunity for the left in the U.S. — (and in Canada, although that’s another column) — to reclaim the profoundly appealing Populist message about taking on billionaires and business moguls in the interests of the common person. 

Trapped in an affordability crisis that leaves them struggling to pay for groceries, ordinary people are angry as their horizons shrink ever smaller. They’re ready to start demanding the fantastic things that could be attained with today’s vast wealth — if it wasn’t all simply sucked up by those at the very top.

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Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Linda McQuaig is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Bluesky: @lindamcquaig.bsky.social