Bernie Sanders has the Right Idea on Identity Politics

When you think "Bernie Sanders", you almost certainly think of Democratic Socialism, Social Democracy, and/or Progressivism. Regardless of what you think of any of those ideologies, you almost certainly do not think about the fact that Bernie is Jewish, non-religious, or likely an Atheist when you think of him. That is because he has consistently run on the issues, rather than on his identity.

Compare this with Hillary's "I'm with her" slogan. One reason Bernie Sanders is America's most popular politician is because he does not run on his identity. That doesn't mean he hides it, but he only brings it up when it is truly relevant, or when asked. He never said "Jews, vote for me because we can have the first Jewish president!" Throughout his whole career, he had railed against using identities to divide people. He has always talked about the importance of economic issues and bringing people together to solve problems that the vast majority of us face - like economic stagnation, low wages, and a sense that we can not move forward.

Bernie recognizes that the vast majority of people have common interests, and while we don't need to ignore that particular groups may suffer from particular issues, we should not run on traits that divide us. That simply leads to those issues that impact us all being ignored. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/bernie-sanders-democrats-identity-politics-231710

A Democratic Party in Bernie's image would not be focusing on identity politics, the modern definition of social justice, or only focusing on the plights of certain people while shaming others. It would be issue based.

This is an idea I am sure I will expand on more in upcoming articles I write. Right now, I just wanted to throw this out there because I have met a ton of people who seem to think that Bernie supporters are all SJWs who oppose free speech and embrace 4th wave feminism. In reality, most of those people broke for Hillary, even though she was less progressive, because they place so much of an emphasis on identity. If somebody prioritizes identity politics over economic policies they will end up almost blindly supporting somebody who could be the first female president over someone with better, and more developed, economic ideas.