I see Bernie has learned his lesson from 2016 about only appealing to rural white Democrats and college students by doubling down on rural white voters. Might help him in a general, but probably not in the primary. Perhaps he should have chosen Mississippi for his "Bernie in Trump country" gig.
You do realize that Bernie went to Mississippi to help Nissan auto workers organize?
My mistake, you're right.
However, I disagree that this is about voter outreach. Very few people would go to an MSNBC-hosted, Chris Hayes-moderated, Bernie Sanders town hall apart from those who are already likely to vote for Sanders, at least in a Democratic primary. Remember, this is a county he won by 25 points in the primary. So, while this is billed as "Sanders in Trump Country," I find it hard to imagine that it actually represents Sanders stepping out of his comfort zone.
Rather, I think the audience for this is absolutely the Democratic establishment and party apparatus - a way for Bernie to say "these people like me, why don't they like you?" It could be a very effective strategy, as I said, in a general election. But Bernie's problem wasn't the general, it was the primary.
