For a political entity that is obsessed with and subservient to identity politics, the Democratic Party now faces the irony of having two white men in their 70s, former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, as the last viable contenders duking it out for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020.
Among the Democratic constituencies that derive their entitlement to succeed in life from immutable characteristics, women seem most aggrieved.
Announcing an end to her campaign, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren lamented, “One of the hardest parts of this is all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. That’s going to be hard.”
A slew of liberal women chimed in about what Warren’s exit from the Democratic presidential race, which started with six female candidates, says about overt and subconscious sexism in politics.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed an “element of misogyny” for the inability of female candidates such as Warren to reach the highest office of the land.
Others blamed society for not being ready for a woman president. Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to former President Barack Obama, said, “Women will not be perceived by some as electable until we’re elected.”
Of course, those who worship at the altar of identity politics always name identity as the No. 1 cause of perceived unfairness or outright injustice. Their logic goes: There is no viable female candidate remaining in the 2020 presidential election; sexism must be the reason.
Analysts ponder where Warren’s campaign went wrong and how she failed to translate fundraising prowess, policy expertise, or stellar debate performances into votes. Leftists keep returning to the narrative that Warren, much like Hillary Clinton in 2016, is extremely qualified and accomplished, but nevertheless has fallen short due to sexism.
Never mind that plenty of women clearly did not find Warren’s or Clinton’s candidacy appealing. Many of the little girls for whom Warren claims to represent may grow up to be quite glad that Warren never became their president.
Certainly, plenty of women did not support Clinton. One study showed that in 2016, white women, who make up 41% of the electorate, chose Trump over Clinton by 47% to 45%. No small number for a male candidate who was repeatedly lambasted as a sexist, misogynist, and sexual predator in the 2016 race.
The misunderstanding for members of the Left is that they assume identity gives them license to speak for and represent those who look like them. Responding to a feminist campaign led by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in 2014, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin offered an answer that is still relevant today. Describing her own transformation from a shy, quiet girl to an outspoken public figure, she wrote, “In college, I got sick of other people — especially, ahem, of bossy liberal white women — pretending to speak for me.”
Perhaps those women Warren and Clinton claimed to represent simply did not believe these politicians spoke for them.
That is a difficult reality to face. Blaming sexism is a much easier solution.
Ying Ma is the author of Chinese Girl in the Ghetto and the former deputy director of the Committee for American Sovereignty, a pro-Trump super PAC.
