The Bush era has changed Lou Dobbs. Early in the administration, the host of “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” CNN’s daily financial news show, once described himself on the air as a conservative and a supporter of the president.

Now he’s using the bully pulpit of his anchor desk to crusade against Bush policies, especially on illegal immigration and the unbridling of corporatism by the government, and has become the de facto spokesman for a rising centrist populist movement.

His fans are generally moderates from both parties, who call themselves “Lou Dobbs Democrats” or “Lou Dobbs Republicans,” respectively. Like Dobbs, they are upset with Republicans’ incompetence and corruption but are less than sanguine about the odds that Democrats will fix the hard problems.

These voters in the agitated middle helped throw the bums out in 2006, and they could play a significant role in the 2008 elections, especially if a third-party candidate emerges who campaigns on their issues.

The shape of the movement so far is secular and libertarian on social issues, which could bode well for liberal causes like choice and gay rights. But Dobbs’ populism sees illegal immigration as a dangerous threat to our security and financial stability. It also puts a low priority on the social welfare of the immigrants, which is a position liberals don’t generally share.

If you want to know more Dobbs and his views, there are three new articles up:

• “Mad As Hell: Lou Dobbs’s populist crusade” –The New Yorker
• “The Lou Dobbs Factor” —New York
• “Lou Dobbs Turns on the CEOs” —Mother Jones
• “The Secret Life of Lou Dobbs” —The American

(Via Jossip)