Identity politics tends to distract from and silence the assertion of such economic issues as inequality, financial insecurity and a declining middle class. These issues were persuasively raised by Messrs. Sanders and Trump in the 2016 primaries. Advancing one group's interest over another's promotes division. It invites people to turn inward and to obsess over their particular grievances, to surround themselves with like-minded voters, thereby creating a moral force-field to form coalitions and exercise group solidarity through demonstrations and movements. But this approach, by its nature, is fractious, non-inclusive and precludes any broad-based political alliances.