1) - I actually agree with you that there is a lot of "woe is me" among people, white or otherwise, who are feeling insecure about change, one way or the other. This used to be an argument I'd have against dems back in the '80s who lamented automation, weakening of unions, etc. It is true that many of the comfortable jobs of the 1950s are gone or are a lot less comfortable. From a societal standpoint I think we call that progress, but that's not much help to the people who see a loss of way of life. It's not just about their current financial health - it's largely about an increase in insecurity, loss of a sense of belonging.

Really, who cares about the people speaking code for racism. They will not be won over. I would be careful about painting with too broad a brush ("basket of deplorables") and understand that this impacts people of all ethnic backgrounds. Hill did far worse with Hispanics than anyone expected. The dems took MI and WI completely for granted. Don't paint with too broad a brush.

2) - could not agree more. Trump's message is about turning the clock back. He has no actual intention of doing that and in any event it's not like its even possible. So there's real oppty there for dems and for all things anti-Trump. But since the dems are the major party opposing Trump, its largely on them. Not a fan of the Bern message, which on this point is still largely about turning back the clock - set wages, put up trade barriers. How about a message about helping people and places modernize? The dems, rightly or wrongly, have become the party of transgender bathroom rights.

That's the challenge - not to lose the support for gay rights, minority rights, etc. To keep all in perspective and not focus on "cultural" issues to the exclusion of "practical" issues. Whether we agree that the dems deserve that rep, that is their rep.

3) - In all honesty, who cares? We can't control how Trump and Co structures messages. And spending too much time demonizing it winds up alienating many people that could easily be won over. Among other things, that means not just running against the crude oaf from Access Hollywood. Gotta run for something, like in 2 above.

To some extent don't worry about what you can't control. One can express opposition to bigotry without over-generalizing.
[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 03/23/2017 1:27PM]