I think sometimes, as Democrats, we get stuck in our own liberal bubble

[Alice B.]

20. 200% this. And there are people legitimately hurting.

I said throughout the election that there were times in my life that, if I lived in a different context (different friends, family, upbringing, education), I might be susceptible to the bs TFG peddles. The Obama years were not awesome for me. Now, to points above, I do know a lot of people who b**ched and moaned about hard they were having it during Obama and during Biden, while gloating over the McMansions they bought out of someone else's foreclosure, showing off their new vehicles on Facebook (and they ones they bought for their newly licensed, still in high school kids), and taking a ton of pricey vacations. I'm eternally livid over that myself.

But then there are people waking up in the middle of the night, crying over dental problems they can't afford to fix and seeing how many necessities $7.43 will get them at the Dollar Tree. And knowing .30 could overdraw their account. These people are out there. I have been that person and someone needs to demonstrate an awareness of that audience.

I argued and argued with other progressives in my community who kept citing the good economic stats and thought the folks complaining about their economic circumstances were just being ... dumb. Employed, college-educated, and many of whom worked for or still work for the local university. I thought it was really dangerous to dismiss or fail to acknowledge that progress occurs unevenly and some people aren't feeling it.