Opinion: Et tu, Bill?

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Sure, he’s a free-loving drug-dabbling boomer who came of age at a racially charged time, but Bill Clinton’s endorsement of a vote-by-your-color-or-sex principle was disappointing.

The former president isn’t wrong when he says, ‘people are proud when someone who they identify with emerges for the first time.’ The same sentiment may run through coreligionists (particularly if they’re members of an oft-maligned sect), or hometown or home-state supporters of any candidate.

But, like so many media accounts that seem to be stuck in the ‘60s, Bill ties pride and identity to sure-fire votes for his wife and her opponent: ‘As far as I can tell, neither Senator Obama nor Hillary have lost votes because of their race or gender. They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender.’

Doesn’t the ‘first black president’ know how silly it can be to identify by race? (That title was given him by Toni Morrison, who crudely, if tongue-in-cheek-ly, equated being black to being poor, fatherless, and Southern — a test Obama fails, in part.)

Bill uses classic boomer logic: Our generation saved the world from the specter of racism and sexism — so Barack and Hillary won’t actually lose votes because of race or gender. But because everyone must still think in terms of race and sex, like we do, and because everyone must (mis)take those qualities for an actual overlap of opinion, they’re going to vote by identity.

And women of color? It’s easier just to ignore us, as most politicians and press seem to be doing, save for the occasional piece about the inner turmoil we must be feeling. (Take this story as an example, which finally mentions two-thirds of the way in: ‘While race and gender play a role, most women here say they plan to vote based on the issues.’)

In the Democratic primary, unfortunately, it is a bit difficult to vote on ‘the issues’ when Obama and Clinton have such similar political platforms. We’re mostly left to choose by some personal quality or experience we find worthwhile, whether it’s Obama’s charisma and time abroad, or Clinton’s assiduousness and time as first lady. Race and gender are part of this calculation, but not the only part. They’re also not just about identity — boomers may not believe it, but racism and sexism are actual ‘issues,’ too.

In any case, once the nominees are decided, and once there’s real disagreement on matters of real importance to the country — including how best to address racism and sexism — identity politics will recede.

Meanwhile, all the race/gender fuss makes me want to cast my primary vote by another immutable quality: age. Forty-six-year-old biracial Obama was too young to remember the battles of the 1960s, and was out of the country for the tumultuous latter half. And while he hasn’t been afraid to play ‘the race card’ in his sly way, I can hope, at least, that he’d have a more nuanced understanding of identity and identity politics than his rivals.

*Photo by Eric Thayer/AFP/Getty Images.