2016 Postmortem

It is absolutely positively right to say that "identity politics" is a serious problem and has helped to GUT this party all over the country in small towns and rural areas. Look, let's get it CLEAR. We abhor and will NEVER tolerate bigotry of ANY kind. But it is not enough to say, "Vote for me because I am a woman." Or "Vote for me because I am a person of color." Our also candidates have to stand for the right kinds of populist progressive economic policies and job creation policies that attract voters. And if we are going to be the "Party of the People" as we have always claimed, then that means ALL the people EVERYWHERE. That means the cities and suburbs, and it also means rural areas and small towns. It means white people AND people of color. It means EVERYONE. We have been gutted because we have ignored too many areas of the country and their concerns and values, and we have not messaged well at all on the economic issues that unite EVERYONE. People in cities need good jobs. People of color need good jobs. Women need good jobs. Young people certainly need good jobs. White people need good jobs. Smalltown America needs good jobs. We are certainly for social justice, but we must also be for economic justice and opportunity EVERYWHERE. They are not mutually exclusive. They are BOTH needed. And this, FINALLY, is what Sanders and others are CORRECTLY saying.