Identity Politics: A Loser for Democrats

The irony of the 2020 Democrat primary process is overwhelming.  It began with a great flourish and was trumpeted by the Democrat’s publicity machine in the mainstream media as being the most diverse field of candidates ever.  And it was.  In alphabetical order we had the following with a brief descriptor as to how the Democrat elites and the mainstream media viewed them:

Name                Race                            Sex            Distinguishing Characteristic

 

Booker             African-American     Male        Referred to himself as Spartacus
Bennett            White                          Male         None

Bloomberg       White                          Male         Mega Rich – Tried to buy the                                                                                            nomination

Bullock              White                          Male           None
Buttigieg            White                         Male           Openly gay man and                                                                                                          incompetent small city mayor
Castro                Hispanic                    Male            None
de Blasio           White                         Male             Incompetent big city mayor
Delaney             White                         Male             None
Gabbard            Pacific Islander        Female         Hillary Hater

Gillibrand         White                         Female         Pasty White opportunist
Gravel                 White                         Male             None
Harris                 African-American   Female         Whatever candidate
Hickenlooper     White                         Male             None
Inslee                   White                         Male             None
Klobuchar          White                          Female        Mean Boss
Moulton              White                         Male             None
Ojeda                  Hispanic                   Male             None
O’Rourke             White                        Male             Weirdo
Patrick                 African-American   Male             None
Ryan                     White                         Male             None
Sestak                   White                         Male             None
Swalwell               White                         Male             None
Warren                 White                         Female        Wannabe Native American

Williamson          White                        Female          TV Soothsayer
Yang                     Asian American       Male              None

Because the Democrat elites are wedded to identity politics, their first inclinations is to identify candidates by race and then by gender with sexual preference following a close third.  The Democrat elites seldom pay any attention to qualifications and accomplishments – if they did neither Mr. Buttigieg nor Mr. O’Rourke would have achieved the amount of newspaper ink and television minutes they received.  Mssrs. Bennett, Bullock,  Delaney, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Moulton, Sestak and Swalwell – all white men – quickly faded into irrelevance because they lacked the necessary “identities” to attract money and support from the Democrat elites.  Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker flamed out quickly despite their racial and gender identities as did Mssrs. Messman (who?) and Patrick.  Ms. Gillibrand started out with less than zero support and as the pasty white opportunist never rose above that.  Mr. de Blasio proved that not even Democrats can stand a first class incompetent jerk even if he is married to a person of color – a fact that he alone thought was important.

There is a special case for Sen. Elizabeth Warren who strived mightily to find a victim category she could claim as her own only to be discovered a liar as to claims in each such category.  In the end she proved to be Hillary Clinton without the extra weight.

Finally, when it came time for the voters, instead of the Democrat elites and their publicists in the mainstream media, to choose they settled on – you guessed it – two old, white men.  (While Ms. Gabbard – the last remaining woman and person of color – technically remains in the race, she does so without funds, support or delegate votes.)  After the countless hours that the broadcast media spent telling us that Mr. O’Rourke was the second coming of Robert Kennedy, that Ms. Harris was the “real deal”, that Mr. Booker was the logical successor to former President Obama, that Ms. Warren was the smartest candidate with the best solutions, that Mr. Buttigieg was the rising star, and that Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden were too old, who did the voters choose?  Why, Mssrs. Sanders and Biden – the two old white men.
The former is best described as an angry old socialist/communist and the latter a creepy old fool whose conduct raises questions about senility.  Mr. Sanders is seventy-eight while Mr. Biden is seventy-seven. Look, I will be seventy-six this summer and I am about the last person to question someone’s qualifications based on age.

Mr. Sanders cannot seem to acknowledge that socialism has ruined every country in which it has been tried.  Even his “preferred Swedish model” has abandoned socialism in order to save its economy and China is more capitalist than socialist although it is still an authoritarian regime.  Socialism always fails and only lasts at the point of a gun.  When given a chance to talk about Cuba, Mr. Sanders has demurred and stated that he cannot see what all the fuss is about.

I doubt that Mr. Biden is senile given that he has been that confused and stupid virtually all of his public life.  And while Mr. Sanders cannot recognize the failures of socialism, Mr. Biden appears to have trouble recognizing his wife.  Mr. Biden has told so many tall tales about his life, his accomplishments and his background that he is no longer capable of separating fact from fiction.

There is irony in the selection of the two old white men as the finalist. But the real irony is how thoroughly the Democrat base has repudiated identity politics.  Perhaps if the Democrat elites were less involved with their friends in the media, less financially dependent on the money changers on Wall Street and less absorbed by identity, they could recognize that the Democrat base – organized labor and agriculture – is slipping away and will more than likely abandon them in droves this next presidential election.