Claire McCaskill, the ex-Senator and white Democrat from Missouri, expressed bafflement at the attention being paid to 29-year-old Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the New York "democratic socialist" now headed for Congress.

Ocasio-Cortez schooled Joe Crowley, a long-time white Congressman in New York's 14th District, in the primary this year.

Two possibilities here.

One, McCaskill understands very well the overwhelming joy that America's ever-more-powerful white-haters feel upon seeing a young Hispanic woman who calls herself a "socialist" beat out an older white male, but wants to register her objection, in a faux-shocked, parental fashion. Kind of like when parents of another generation just couldn't understand why the young folks were so excited about the Beatles.

Two, she really doesn't get it. Which may well constitute some part of the white Democrat old guard. They don't suspect how much they're hated, because as Democrats, aren't they good guys?

Proof it's No. 1: she also stuck up for white voters, noting for Ocasio-Cortez that they're rejecting the Democrats.

The two-term Democratic senator also warned Ocasio-Cortez not to ignore the plight of white working-class voters who have distanced themselves from the Democratic Party in recent years.

"I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the Democratic Party, like a whole lot of white working-class voters, need to hear about how their work is going to be respected, and the dignity of their jobs, and how we can really stick to issues that we can actually accomplish something on,” McCaskill said. [McCaskill on Ocasio-Cortez: ‘I’m a little confused why she’s the thing’, by Albert Anapol, The Hill, December 26, 2018]

Maybe McCaskill is looking for a Second Act as white advocate. If so, great. For simply mentioning that whites are a legitimate group, she's a million miles ahead of the overwhelming majority of Republicans.