Vice President Kamala Harris would be making history if she wins the presidency, not only as the first woman to hold the office but the first Asian-American and the second Black person. But she doesn't put a great deal of emphasis on this fact on the campaign trail — and there's a very deliberate reason why not, wrote Jill Filipovic for Slate.
Filipovic argued the Democratic nominee is wary of a trap Democrats have fallen into in past elections, where they become consumed with identity issues in ways that ultimately alienate the typical voter.
"For feminists like me, this is uncomfortable: For one thing, I’m psyched about the prospect of the first female president. I wish the whole country were shouting it from the rooftops!" wrote Filipovic.
However, she continued, "I also believe there is something shallow, and sometimes incredibly counterproductive, about a focus on identity. It flattens more than it layers on, and it is certainly damaging to progressive movements when identity is wielded as a cudgel or a gotcha."
This sort of thing was turbocharged after former President Donald Trump took office, she noted, with progressive circles pivoting hard toward racial and sexual justice. In some ways this was a good thing and alerted the public to ongoing imbalances of power, wrote Filipovic. And yet, she added, "as inevitably happens with well-meaning but extremely zealous social movements, there were excesses, especially in the ever-evolving linguistic demands that often obscured more than they clarified, the quickness to abandon other principles in the name of the cause, and the ritual shaming of the less-than-perfect."
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It's in this context that Harris wants to strip away that brand of politics, wrote Filipovic, and just run a focused campaign on what she can do for the American people and what challenges they face that need to be overcome.
The Democratic Party as a whole has embraced this calling as well, she continued — aside from the fundraiser live streams like "White Dudes for Harris," which were meant to showcase why people of all backgrounds were committed to the campaign, Democratic messaging hasn't lingered on identity.
For instance, in Latino targeting, Democrats are focusing less on immigration and more on economic and health care issues, which is what polls suggest are main priorities.
Should Harris triumph in the election, her identity will make it a historic occasion, Filipovic concluded — however, "she will only win if a critical mass of Americans do exactly what social justice advocates have long advocated: if they see Harris not as a symbol or a mashup of firsts, but as simply the best person for the job."
