SAN DIEGO — As a journalist in the center, I despise both political parties. At least, I think there are two parties. Sometimes, they seem like one and the same. Often, I can’t tell them apart.
I cannot be the only American who feels that way. Both parties lie to their constituents, fall short of their ideals, let donors dictate agendas and don’t let consistency interfere with expediency.
There are superficial differences, but the core behavior is the same. For instance, Republicans insist they care more about securing the U.S.-Mexico border, while Democrats appear more disturbed by the mounting death toll of Palestinians in Gaza. Look a little deeper, and you’ll see what the parties have in common on these issues: Each needs to feel morally superior to the other.
Or take this example: The parties’ standard bearers sound alike when they’re playing identity politics. Here again, the parties don’t get hung up on a little thing like consistency. Republicans rail against “identity politics” when practiced by people of color, but they’re silent when conservatives pander to racists in the immigration debate to stir up votes. Democrats are alarmed when MAGA uses identity politics to mobilize white nationalists, but they’re fine with the fact that the concept is baked into programs intended to foster diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
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And the 2024 election is breaking new ground. The presumptive presidential nominees of both major political parties seem comfortable playing identity politics — if it suits their interests.
During a recent web show, former president Donald Trump couldn’t wait to psychoanalyze Jews who vote for Democrats. When asked by the host - who happened to be his former aide, Sebastian Gorka — about Democrats’ intensifying criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the rising number of casualties in Gaza, the presumptive Republican nominee glibly suggested that Democrats Party “hate Israel.”
Some will say those comments are unkind or unfair. They might be both. But at least, they fall within the boundaries of what is considered acceptable political speech. Not so what came next: Trump shifted his criticism to Jews themselves.
“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” Trump said. “They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
Those comments were shockingly presumptuous, and they crossed a line. Of course, Trump does that all the time.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Democrat Joe Biden also dabbled in identity politics during a visit to the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona. Biden won both states in 2020, but now he could lose both, because he is bleeding support from Latinos. So he’s taking direct aim at Trump.
“This guy despises Latinos,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with Univision Radio. “I understand Latino values.”
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Conversely, Biden argued, Trump is hostile to Latinos — especially the newly arrived.
“He says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood’ of this country, separated children from parents at the border, caged the kids, planned mass deportations systems,” Biden said of his likely opponent. “We have to stop this guy. We can’t let this happen. We are a nation of immigrants.”
As a Latino who pays close attention to politics, I seriously doubt that Biden believes any such thing. There is no evidence that Biden understands Latinos or our values. Where did he supposedly pick that up? Growing up in hardscrabble Scranton, Pa., where there are very few Latinos? Or in Delaware, or in Washington, D.C., where the Democrat spent most of his life?
If Biden understood Latino values, he would not be pilfering harsh and punitive immigration enforcement measures from Trump’s playbook. His administration wouldn’t be turning people around at the border and sending them to Mexico without even hearing their asylum claim, or threatening to make the claiming of refugee status so difficult as to be virtually impossible, or building 23 miles of a Trump-style wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, or being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mr. President, if it’s all the same, this Latino will decide for himself who despises me - as well as who I can trust to have my back. It’s not you. And it’s certainly not your likely opponent.
Elected officials in both parties should stick to talking about policy and keep their hands off identity — religious, racial, ethnic, gender, etc. Every American is on a personal journey to discover what he or she is about. They don’t need help from politicians who are all about themselves.
This commentary is Ruben Navarrette's opinion. He can be reached at ruben@wctrib.com.
© 2022, The Washington Post Writers Group
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