Can we talk about “identity politics” for a minute? Because as much as conservatives love to band about the phrase, I am not quite sure they get it.

I just ran into a CPC member who was very proud to tell me that he supported Leslyn Lewis in the leadership race. She is most certainly an impressive woman who ran an impressive campaign. And it is notable that she is the first black woman to run for the CPC leadership.

But he also implied that by nature of the fact that she was a black woman, liberal women would clearly feel some affinity to her and thus vote for her. Ummm no. It doesn’t work that way.

I will vote for candidates who are advocating for policies that help address issues I care about. Childcare, reproductive rights, lgbtq allyship are all important to me. So if your policies don’t match that - I’ll probably vote for the white guy whose policies do.

You can’t have it both ways. Lewis is an impressive candidate who very effectively argues her positions. Her being a black women doesn’t negate the fact that many women don’t support her positions. Like seriously dude. Glad to see you recognize competence in diversity though.