The End of Identity Politics

Consider the most consequential political news in recent decades. Not consequential in the sense of political issues that most directly affected people’s lives. Instead, think of those stories of greatest import to the careers of politicians. Those most likely to alter a career, command media coverage, sink an election. Bill Clinton’s affairs with Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. A foot, rubbed against that of another man, attempting to solicit sex. John Kerry’s candidacy, undone in part by disputes over just how brave he truly was in Vietnam, nearly four decades prior. Now, Governor Palin’s pregnant daughter, a story that already has many questioning McCain’s decision-making abilities. Along the way, I’m pretty sure CNN also ran a few stories about Iraq votes and tax policy, when news was slow.

Politicians of yore committed the same personal improprieties as today’s crop. What explains the increased significance of these stories? Several things. Foremost, technology has altered the media, allowing curiosity to invade the lives of all people, both famous and not. As a result, the sudden addition of this information has fed an illusion that public gaffes and personal misconduct are something new. When John F. Kennedy cheated on his wife Jackie, there was no accompanying video on TMZ. The unprecedented access afforded by smaller cameras, an unashamed media and the permanent record stored on the internet bombards an unprepared public with stories of wrongdoing that they’re not used to hearing.

This level of access is rapidly increasing. The Facebook’s culture of exhibitionist socializing has already created a permanent record of thoroughly unpresidential behavior by most members of my generation. I anticipate a time coming in which anyone outgoing enough to run for president will have a major skeleton on the internet. What is the future of identity politics in a world where everyone has publicly soiled their reputation by the time they reach adulthood? I offer two opposite theories.

The End of Identity Politics

Now everything seems so shocking. Marijuana use, drunk driving arrests, teen pregnancy. But how many people in high office never smoked marijuana, never drove under the influence, regardless of whether or not they were caught. As people’s private lives become uncontrollably public, these things will cease to be shocking. Sure, older generations will still be shocked. But within thirty years, sixty-year olds will have grown up with livejournal. Desensitized to this sort of fluff, future generations will turn back to issues more germane to the process of selecting leaders.

The Age of Identity Politics

Identity politics is not ending, this is just the beginning. Anyone paying attention to technology realizes that the world runs on data. As more data is available on candidates, it will become significantly more useful. Why should we take a candidate’s word that they have a particular set of values when we can review their entire life and judge for ourselves? Further, if we are fascinated by politician’s lives right now, why should the trend change when we know so much more about them. Instead of watching debates, we can google our prospective leaders, read every Facebook wall message they authored, and analyze all their livejournal entries. The process will become more interactive and more rewarding, altogether replacing the national dialog on specific issues.