… Identity doesn’t solely define American politics. Voters aren’t vassals who blindly support candidates who look or act (or eat or pray) like them. And frankly, it’s insulting to presume that a certain slice of a demographic will support a candidate simply because they share a candidate’s characteristic or trait. …
Identity is influential in a voter’s mind — but it’s informative, not determinative. John F. Kennedy explicitly disavowed accusations that he was nothing more than a representative of his religion in 1960, famously arguing, “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic.” CONT.
Rahm Emanuel, Washington Post