redblueamerica.com

Charles Krauthammer bemoans identity politics in the Democratic Party:

Race, age and gender. Is this campaign about anything else?

Nationally, the older white woman -- Clinton -- carries the senior vote, the white vote and the women's vote. The younger black man -- Obama -- carries the youth vote, the black vote and the male vote.

He's right. There's been some polarity among gender and racial lines in the voting, and it can't be denied. But Krauthammer's bemusement at these lines obscures something important: We have no idea what the voter breakdowns would look like if, say, a black man and a white woman were the leading contenders for the Republican nomination.

Let me suggest that such a scenario -- if it were to ever happen -- would play out in more or less the same fashion if this race were being held in the GOP. But we can't know, because all we had this year (and every year) is white guys as major contenders on that side.

Now it may be that the only Republicans qualified to be president are white guys. But it's easy to bemoan identity politics when your party hasn't been tested by the possibility.

And the truth is, identity politics did come into play during the early stages of the GOP primary. That's why Mitt Romney had to give his religion speech in Texas. But perhaps that doesn't count.