Everyone agrees: Bernie Sanders’ Fox News appearance was a major success.

“Sanders takes on Fox — and emerges triumphant,” proclaimed Politico. Vice judged Bernie’s appearance “victorious.” The Washington Post opined that Bernie’s stellar performance “suggest[s] that [Trump] can, indeed, be beaten.” The Atlantic, usually eager to declare that Bernie has blundered, conceded that “it paid off.”

But most coverage restricts its analysis to Sanders’ 2020 election prospects, overlooking the true significance of the event. It’s not just that he’s willing to make a pitch to Fox’s viewership and thus stands a better chance at winning the presidency — it’s that the Right could lose some of the working-class support it doesn’t deserve, a process that could easily snowball out of their control.