...this white working class narrative (and all the trappings that come with it) only hurts the cause. In fact, I'm more than sympathetic to the Nordic Model. It would be a major improvement, which is why it's all the more frustrating that Sanders and his acolytes are failing so miserably in their approach (the misguided approach has contributed to a knee-jerk opposition to what really are sound policy proposals). And, again, misrepresenting the Nordic Model as socialism does a grave disservice (unintentionally so, I suppose, which is really inexcusable for an educated member of the US Senate). When you call yourself a Democratic Socialist while promoting Social Democracy, many who don't know any better make the mistake of equating the two. This leads to attacks from all sides (both Democrats and Republicans who don't know the difference, and Republicans who do know the difference but want to exploit the ignorance), which could have been avoided by being more cautious when subscribing to labels.
Anyway, the white working class narrative itself is rooted in racism, which is not to say everyone promoting it is intentionally being racist. Many right wingers and members of the media seized upon the narrative following the 2016 election, which ought to tell Sanders that he's off-base. Right wing politicians and strategists know full well that their survival depends upon racism, sexism and so on. So, anyone who pushes the idea that "identity politics" is where Democrats go wrong is playing right into the hands of right wingers.
As I've written before, Democrats already do better than Republicans among the working class. In saying Democrats shouldn't go out of their way to appeal to the *white* working class (or, even more narrowly, white working class men), the point isn't to denigrate that subset of the population. The point is that the Democratic Party platform should already appeal to the working class. And, for the most part, it does, based on exit polls following every election.
Why speak specifically of *white* working class folks? We all know why. Either it's because there's this assumption that only white people work or experience economic anxiety (which is what makes the narrative racist), or it's because a certain portion of *white* working class folks are voting based on factors that have nothing to do with candidate positions on wage stagnation, workplace safety, health care, equal pay, paid family leave and all of the other issues that should matter to the working class (nobody can honestly argue that the Republican position on those issues is better for working class folks than the Democratic position on those issues).
As for the notion that Clinton didn't talk enough about economics and focused too much on 'identity politics', a Vox article made it clear just how false that narrative is.
The bottom line is that we must address racism (including xenophobia) and sexism head-on. If we don't, there's no hope of substantially redistributing wealth or opportunity.
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