The Narcissism Of Demographics

Josh Patashnik:

Even if it's somewhat reasonable to expect demography to predict voting patterns in a contest like this one, it's also reasonable to expect people to be fairly indifferent about the ultimate outcome. But, in fact, we've seen the exact opposite: The raw emotion of the campaign reached a crescendo just as the ideological stakes reached a nadir, and the number of Clinton and Obama supporters who say they'd be unwilling to support the other candidate in a general election seems to have grown over the course of the past three months.

I can't see why this is surprising. A campaign on issues becomes about what we want to do; a campaign on identity becomes about who we are. And who we are is less susceptible to compromise. Which is why it's worth avoiding identity politics. It very soon becomes culture war.