If Democrats really do think they have a problem, there are things they can do as an institution to ameliorate the situation. The party could aggressively set quota goals for elected offices. It could take race and sex into account for levels of candidate support. In all likelihood, soft forms of this kind of thing probably are happening. In some sense, the core identity of the Democratic Party today is that it is diverse and inclusive, so maybe it really is a problem for them that only white men are scoring significantly in their presidential polls.

The political calculus that the Democratic Party and progressives in general must think about is how far they want to push the agenda of decreasing white men’s power. Jones’ laugh and Gillibrand’s reaction seemed to show that they both thought she was saying something radical, or at least something that pushes boundaries.

Frankly, in the context of modern progressive thought and its influence on the Democratic Party, this was not a particularly radical thing to say. But in the context of presidential politics and the centrist smoothing of the Electoral College, it may be. There is a risk that many voters will look at conversations like the one between Gillibrand and Jones and at best roll their eyes, at worst accuse them of divisiveness, or even racism or sexism.