Jonah Goldberg raises a good question about identity politics over at The Corner. He wonders why there was so much opposition, and from conservatives, no less, over the fact that Sarah Palin had been picked to appeal to certain demographic constituencies, perhaps notably, women. Jonah remarks that it’s customary to choose the running mate in order to appeal to certain constituencies, such as when JFK chose LBJ for his appeal to the South. That is true, but race and gender are really divisive and pernicious as political categories for a number of reasons that would take some effort to lay out completely. To say one thing here, they are immutable biological categories, not matters of geographical or economic or professional or educational background. It is unavoidable that they will figure in electoral decisions at least to some extent, but for them to become quasi-official electoral constituencies brings us much closer to the actual tribalism that conservatives have been decrying in multiculturalism all along and that is completely at odds with the American ideal.