Far better to be a liberal than a right wing bigot!
My point was that the feel good factor of championing individuality and identity is an easy win for liberals - it makes them feel like they are doing something great and meaningful. But maybe in the process there was some complacency about addressing the tougher issues around funding and motivating voters to re-train to keep up with the effects of global competition.
Many of those voters seem to have felt alienated by the lack of focus on their needs and presumably they felt rejected that attention was diverted away from their lack of access to employment that allows them to put food on the table and gives these people self-sufficiency and self-respect. I suppose they see that as liberals dismissing their identity, whereas Trump celebrated their identity, hence he got their votes even though he did it by appealing more to their emotions rather than facts, statistics or logic. Calling them right-wing bigots isn't going to get their votes.
It raises an interesting question - how do liberal politicians who can cope with the bumps that go with changing demographics and culture in a changing world appeal to people who want to live in a past where they were more assured of their place, influence and privilege because they had less people to compete against, and who do not want to see their culture change? There is a similar resistance to change in other communities in other parts of the world.
