Webster's defines "populist" as "a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people" "Independent populist" is a leadership term. An independent populist leader is one who is led by the voice of the people and is independent and suspicious of forces led by lobbyists,multinational corporations,religious demagogues,political parties, political action committees(PACS),or powerful individuals(example: Bill Gates) seeking to steer government in their narrow direction. An independent populist president,for example, would not hestitate to balk at a congress dominated by his/her own party if they wanted a bill contrary to the will of the people. Just saying you are an "independent populist" does not make you one. You have to be committed to the will of the people even if that will is contrary to your own. You must be independent of influences that would cause you to stray from the will of the people.
This is my own definition. You will not find one in the dictionary, and although "independent populist" guru Lou Dobbs uses the term quite a bit, he has not totally defined it.
If you agree with my definition and it fits yours, feel free to submit it to wikipedia so these web queries such as "What is an Independent Populist?" can be more definitively answered. We haven't had an independent populist leader for such a lengthy period, that the concept is almost lost.
Caveat: Our government is a constitution based federal republic, any populist leader would have to operate within this framework or successfully change the constitution, which is highly unlikely.
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