receiving a measly 4% of votes. she was elevated to the VP position above merit worthy individuals solely to placate identity politics, as Biden did extensively with other appointments as well

Biden won which makes the choice harder to criticize.

People are often elevated without merit for a multitude of reasons including nepotism which don't benefit anyone but them. Trump will have to reward his supporters as well. It is the spoils system. It isn't unique to US politics but the cronyism is a bit more in your face than usual in regular democracies. If Biden's spoils went to a more diverse looking bunch then that probably says more about the diversity of his supporters than anything about his judgement. As far as I can see the criticism is unfounded. And when the democrats criticize the lack of diversity in the next administration it is a similar thing. The spoils don't go to randoms picked from a color swatch regardless of party.

Was Mike Pence getting chosen for his Christian background not an example of identity politics? Was JD Vance being a younger politician to balance old Trump identity politics? Everything relates to identity politics

Mike Pence got chosen for being boring and establishment.

I'm a Klobuchar truther. She could have pulled this off