Top McCain Adviser Charlie Black: "John McCain Is A Populist"

Top McCain adviser Charlie Black labeled the presumptive Republican nominee "a populist" on Thursday while brushing off former Bush adviser Karl Rove's criticism that the former Arizona senator is unduly demonizing American companies.
"Senator McCain has frequently received some criticism for taking on big industries," Black told NPR's 'All Things Considered.' "John McCain is a populist. He believes in free markets; he believes in limited government and having the free enterprise system produce the jobs and the prosperity that he seeks, but he does think, as did Teddy Roosevelt, that you do need government there with some oversight and some regulation to avoid excess."

Populism, according to Wikipedia: Populism is a discourse which supports "the people" versus "the elites". Populism may involve either a political philosophy urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style, deployed by members of political or social movements competing for advantage within the existing party system.