Mistaken identity politics

Contemporary Americans are more complex than wine.

That's why identity politics, in which campaigns appeal for support based on the most superficial traits, has gotten to be so challenging.

And it's why this year's presidential campaign, with its unprecedented mix of gender, race and age diversity, is so much more interesting than usual.

Identity, in some form, will always be a factor because people try to pick a candidate who is going to see things their way.

One way to gauge that is by reading position papers and perusing platforms. Mostly, though, voters try to judge who's most like them based on what groups candidates belong too, who else likes them — and, especially, what they look like. We are very visual animals.

Just last week I saw mention of an experiment in which a researcher colored white wine red and asked people to comment on its characteristics.

Experts accepted the wine as a red because their eyes overruled their taste buds.

People are far more complex than wines. You can't put most women, or most white people, in the same box. This is not the 1950s. Still, a lot of folks are unduly influenced by the outside.

Much of the talk about Sarah Palin when John McCain chose her to run with him was about the power her gender would have to draw women to the ticket.

But there is too huge a gap between her politics and that of the women she is supposed to attract — disaffected Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters.

On the other side, Barack Obama has the support of most black folks and a lot of young people across racial and gender lines.

Democrats always do well with those groups. But some of Obama's popularity (and difficulty, too) is based on his skin color and his candidacy being a historic first.

But his politics is part of the mix too. A few years ago, his skin would have mattered too much for that to be true.

Bill Clinton made a mistake early in the primaries comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson, suggesting his candidacy was fueled mostly by his race. Obama occupies a very different place than Jackson. I don't think many black people are voting for him because they think he'll be a strong advocate specifically for black people.

In fact, a lot of folks, including me, expect a President Obama would be limited in what he could do and say for fear of being seen as too black.

Every politician tries to paint him or herself as just like whoever is being wooed. That's identity politics too.

There was a reason Democrats had their convention in Denver and featured country music. They made some assumptions about people who live in the West and about who listens to country music. Sure, Stevie Wonder sang too, but who doesn't like Stevie?

The thing is, people have more than one piece to their identity, much more than the one that's most apparent at a glance.

My older brother loves Motown and doesn't much like country, but he's a conservative Christian who's sure Obama is an excessively liberal closet Muslim out to destroy America.

You don't know what's in a bottle until you uncork it.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.