When I read that Samantha Power (the former Barack Obama foreign policy adviser who recently referred to Hillary Clinton as a “monster”) had resigned because of those comments, I was heartbroken.

When I was in college, I first met Power at a public lecture and fell in love with her then. She was beautiful, bold and brilliant. While other students swooned over sorority sisters, I developed the world’s biggest crush (not kidding) on Samantha Power. I know … I’m a nerd.

Power was and still is a fresh, young voice in the area of foreign policy. She rose to fame through her reporting on the history of genocide in her book, “A Problem from Hell.” Power represents a new generation of global thinkers who factor human rights into their broader foreign policy agenda, which meshes extraordinarily well with young people.

If you ask any of Barack Obama’s campaign staffers what they believe is the most important presidential campaign issue, they’ll respond with the same slogan: “It’s IDENTITY stupid.” Or at least they should…

This election is not about issues; it’s not about hope or change or even about the candidates themselves. Rather, this election’s outcome will ultimately be decided by our sense of identity; or lack thereof.

Last November, in a speech given by former President Bill Clinton in Little Rock, Ark., he claimed that our sense of identity will determine the course of the 21st century:

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