FDR’s Madison Square Garden speech

FDR’s Madison Square Garden speech (here) is even more radical and angry than Krugman reports. However, it’s interesting to note that FDR says that those who voted for him in 1932 had

sought escape from the personal terror which had stalked them for three years. They wanted the peace that comes from security in their homes: safety for their savings, permanence in their jobs, a fair profit from their enterprise (emphasis added).

It’s probably accurate to say that FDR wanted to present himself as a defender of the little business guy against “monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering”, as he announced

Of course we will continue our efforts for young men and women so that they may obtain an education and an opportunity to put it to use. Of course we will continue our help for the crippled, for the blind, for the mothers, our insurance for the unemployed, our security for the aged. Of course we will continue to protect the consumer against unnecessary price spreads, against the costs that are added by monopoly and speculation. We will continue our successful efforts to increase his purchasing power and to keep it constant.

Do you think this political rhetoric would be successful nowadays? Why?