Democrats Disagree On Playing Identity Politics

On Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told CNN’s Wolf Bltizer he disagrees with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) assertion that Democrats need to stop playing “identity politics.”

Asked about Sanders’ views by Blitzer, Cummings said he doesn’t necessarily agree with the Vermon Senator. Instead, Cummings said, “We need to still pay attention to so many people who have been left out of the system in one way or another.” He concluded: “I think we can do both.”

On Monday, Sanders told attendees at a book tour event that Democrats need to do more than play identity politics if they want to win. According to Politico, Sanders said:

“It’s not good enough for someone to say, ‘I’m a woman! Vote for me!’” No, that’s not good enough. What we need is a woman who has the guts to stand up to Wall Street, to the insurance companies, to the drug companies, to the fossil fuel industry.”

A diverse set of Democrats, from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (formerly of Iowa) to former DNC Communications Director Karen Finney, have said Democrats need a more focused economic message.