E.J. Dionne writes a wonderfully Springsteen-inspired title column on the rise of populism in the Iowa caucus, Trouble Thunder In The Heartland. The Huckabee half seemed forced and not particularly illuminative. But the discussion of the Democratic race was excellent:

. . . "The richest Americans are getting richer," Edwards said. "How much money do these people need?" Roaring his refrain of "enough is enough," Edwards declared: "America doesn't belong to them. It belongs to us." Us-vs.-them economic rhetoric is often said to be out of date, impractical, even dangerous. But in the closing days of a very tight race, Edwards has his opponents, particularly Barack Obama, scrambling to make sure a trial lawyer from North Carolina does not corner the market on populism.

Is this too little too late from Obama in the Hillary Alternative race?

Obama is vying with Edwards for the non-Clinton vote, and the Illinois senator was on the air yesterday with an Edwards-like television ad assailing the flow of American jobs abroad. Obama spoke last week of "Maytag workers who labored all their lives only to see their jobs shipped overseas; who now compete with their teenagers for $7-an-hour jobs at Wal-Mart." He had heard from seniors "who were betrayed by CEOs who dumped their pensions while pocketing bonuses, and from those who still can't afford their prescriptions because Congress refused to negotiate with the drug companies for the cheapest available price."

The Kumbaya schtick has reached it limits apparently. Too bad Obama campaign strategist Axelrod did not realize that when he could have knocked Edwards out in November.