Breaking Identity Fever

Here’s a quote from a New York Times story from this week:

“So it is especially notable that Democrats, four years after hemorrhaging Latino support, have not been offering a slew of overt appeals. Rather than ads filled with promises about immigration reform and Spanish phrases, Democrats have been focusing on economic messages, talking about the cost of housing and medication, or relentlessly hammering the promise of the American dream. In short, they are courting Latino voters by treating them like everyone else.”

This is reported in the pages of the Times as a revelation equivalent to String Theory in physics because it runs counter to the way NPR Liberals (who regard the New York Times as NPR’s print equivalent) view the world. In that world everyone fits into a neat identity box and they are to be treated based on their victimhood status associated with their group. To think of Latinos as being, you know, like average Americans and human beings with middle class concerns, as opposed to the concerns NPR Liberals think they should have, well, it just blows their minds.

Harris continued along this line in last night’s interview on CNN. The network’s Dana Bush set a trap by asking her to comment on a photo of her grand niece watching her accept the nomination. Harris’ response was, as Donald Trump would say, perfect. She displayed warmth but also refused to talk about her history-setting candidacy because that is obvious enough. Instead she said she was running to represent, “all Americans, regardless of race and gender.”

I think this will work. It’s just another smart thing Kamala Harris and her campaign are doing. They seem to want to win an election instead of preaching the hard-left sermon to the unwashed masses. How refreshing.

Now, they should do the same thing with everyone else. The last two successful two-term Democratic presidents — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — did exactly this. They tended not to parse the American electorate into identity groups and then pitch policies to them. Instead, they aimed above their heads and talked in terms of commonalities and shared beliefs and aspirations as Americans.

It’s not only good politics, it’s good governance and good philosophy. The modern Democratic obsession with treating the public as just a collection of identity-based victimhood groups is very damaging. It inevitably pits one group against another in a zero sum game. And it spurs a kind of victimhood Olympics where activists in one group try to one-up others. “We’re more marginalized than you are!” Not only does it encourage people to think of themselves as victims, but victimhood demands an oppressor. So, it also encourages scapegoating of others for all the problems the victimhood group imagines it has.

So here’s the change we need to see. Treat people as Americans, not based on their skin color or sexual identity. Emphasize the things we all aspire to and worry about. And talk about the future and what can be instead of the past and who owes who how much for wrongs done to their ancestors.

That’s a winning formula. More importantly, it will be good for our country.

We missed the Quote and Quiz last week. We promise a new one tomorrow. Have a good weekend.