It was one of the most tone-deaf things that Bernie said in the debate.
He misspoke, I think he was going overboard in trying to appease the identity politics left. It's a lose lose situation though as if he just talked about the poor he'd be accused of ignoring racial issues.
It might have been a misspeak, but it's a hell of a time to do it.
Actually IceSpear does kind of have a point. I have seen people here argue, for example, that the Democrats should abandon environmentalism in an effort to win West Virginia, which is incredibly ridiculous.
However, "Other people on Atlas are bigoted too!" isn't an excuse to be bigoted. Classism is a form of bigotry.
I think this absolutism is that biggest mistake. We're in a bad place, when the progressive movement demands purity and rejects nuance like so much of the right does.
The Democratic Party doesn't need to reject the policies on which it is now based, it shouldn't turn on environmentalism, social liberalism in order to placate people. But it doesn't mean that progressive politics cannot present real options to people in Appalachia etc who still deal with incredible poverty and lack of opportunities. Instead of people like Bill Maher saying that coal should die, there's no transitional plan to new industries or new careers. Yes, coal is not sustainable as the basis of a state's economy, and both Dem and GOPs are to blame for letting people think it will be.
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