re: Identity Politics

historically speaking, in America, a group's political power has not led to economic improvement. In other words, there isn't much evidence in America to suggest that a lagging group must first attain some degree of political power in order to advance economically. In reality, quite the opposite is true. Jewish and Indian Americans are two examples of this. You could add Japanese Americans also.

Today, some lagging groups are actually over-represented at various levels of government, yet economic improvement continues to elude them.

i think identity politics had been practiced for a long time in this country. I don't know when it started, but it certainly didn't begin with Obama.