Identity Politics Not a Smart Strategy
The recent poll by Rasmussen Reports showing that twenty-two percent of either Hillary or Obama supporters will not vote for the other candidate in the general election demonstrates the toxicity of identity politics. Hillary and Obama would govern under very similar philosophies. Both candidates are reliable liberals. What reasons, therefore, would those who refuse to vote for the other candidate offer for that refusal?
One might imagine that the answers to this question would be as vague as the reasons offered for voting for Obama in the first place. They might say, “Hillary doesn’t really want change.” If they told the truth, however, a substantial portion of each group would say that they are disappointed that the particular rendezvous with history they were rooting for, either the first woman or first black president, is not going to happen and that was all they really cared about.
One cannot sit through a Democratic debate without hearing the prospect of the first black or woman president repeatedly mentioned as a major reason for voting for one or the other candidate. Neither a candidate’s race nor gender should be a major factor in picking a president. The presidency is an emphatically individual job. What matters is the person, not his or her race or gender.
By making the race of Obama and the gender of Clinton such key factors in their appeal, each campaign has directed its campaign to a particular segment of society rather than society at large. Because of this narrow approach each respective campaign should expect a substantial portion of the people who wanted the first female president to refuse to vote for Obama and vice versa. Campaigns should strive to appeal to all voters at all times. In some cases that requires telling a debate moderator or reporter that the candidate is not running on his or her identity but on ideas.
All too often both campaigns have embraced identity as a reason for voting for their candidate. Appeals based on racial or gender identity on a national scale inevitably break down. With the media now covering politics more extensively than it ever has, the advent of the twenty-four hour news cycle and the Internet, it is impossible to craft a particular message for each individual group without everyone seeing it. The old identity politics of the Democratic Party simply cannot work in this age of pervasive media.
The Ref | 3/27/08 | Permalink