Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's surprisingly large victory last night over high- ranking House Dem Joseph Crowley may have been due to several factors, but one lesson must be learned by Democratic leaders:
What to make of that lightning bolt that struck the Democratic Party Tuesday night when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat incumbent Congressman Joe Crowley in their primary—and I mean crushed him, by 16 percentage points? Most people are going to see it as a left vs. establishment story, and sure, that’s legit.
But I see it in another context, too, one that I fear will be overlooked. It’s a generational story, and a story about how to be in touch with younger Democratic voters, which Democratic leadership [Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer] did a horrible job of demonstrating this week in its responses to RedHenGate. And those Democratic leaders better be aware of this and change their game accordingly, or they will fail to communicate to their voters that they understand what’s at stake in this election. (our emphasis)We're far, far closer to Nancy Pelosi's and Chuck Schumer's age than Ocasio-Cortez, so we feel liberated to say that having 70- somethings Pelosi, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. James Clyburn and Schumer as the face of the Democratic Party (especially as a timid, cluck- clucking face) is the closest thing to a gift that existential threat Donald "Rump" Trump has in the opposition. They may be savvy legislators, but they seem to be missing the import of the times rather badly; too many collegial club happy hours with the nihilists, perhaps.
On Pelosi, in particular:
As it happens, Pelosi seized an opportunity earlier in the week to demonstrate just how shockingly out of touch she is in how she rebuked Maxine Waters for her controversial remarks about the Sarah Huckabee Sanders restaurant matter. Waters went too far, as she sometimes does. So it wasn’t crazy for Pelosi to decide to put a little space between herself and Waters.
But get the language of Pelosi’s tweet: “In the crucial months ahead, we must strive to make America beautiful again. Trump’s daily lack of civility has provoked responses that are predictable but unacceptable. As we go forward, we must conduct elections in a way that achieves unity from sea to shining sea.” [snip]
Democrats need to keep their eyes on the prize here. They are not going to win this fall playing a game of defensive caution. They need young voters and women voters of the sort who carried both Ocasio-Cortez and [Conor] Lamb to victory. If the spirit of that Pelosi tweet is the spirit that’s getting through to those voters come October, they’re doomed.Infidel 753 makes the related point that the leadership (in the form of the DCCC, but could also be DSCC or DNC) needs to understand the energy candidates like Ocasio-Cortez bring and harness rather than resist it:
... It's true that NY-14 is so solidly Democratic that Ocasio-Cortez will almost certainly win even without DCCC support, but that's not the point -- the leadership needs to demonstrate that it supports the "big tent" and recognizes that winning as many seats as possible is more important than getting exactly the candidates it wants. She represents the wave of the future and the kind of candidate that enthuses the party's real base, which is critical to its success, especially in an off-year election. (our emphasis)Here in the Maryland gubernatorial primary, the Democratic establishment went all in on respected party fixture County Executive Rushern Baker (58), who lost big to charismatic Ben Jealous (45), the former head of the NAACP. Jealous ran passionately on an unabashedly progressive agenda versus Baker's more "pragmatist" moderate stance. Beyond an almost one generation age difference, Jealous' grasp of the base of the party's activist zeitgeist seems to have been the deciding factor.
In 2018 and beyond, we need all Democrats to be pulling in the same direction, which is to take the House and possibly the Senate back, and as many State gubernatorial and legislative races as possible. The leadership issues will sort themselves out accordingly after November, but in the meantime, be assured that "the times they are a-changin'."
7 comments:
Thanks for the cite. I don't mean to devalue the experience and skills of older leaders, but I'm troubled by the party being too much under the dominance of people long past normal retirement age. Obama was a breath of fresh air because of his age and modern sensibilities, not just because of his race. I also worry that older politicians tend to settle into don't-rock-the-boat mode, which has its good points in normal times, but (as you say) isn't suited to channel and express the fury which the Republicans' brazen outrages have provoked.
I've always argued that all Democrats must support whatever Democratic candidates they have available to vote for, even if those candidates aren't their ideal. And that applies to the party leadership just as much as to the radicals.
Democrat or republican, the older generation has to get the hell out of the way for the young-ins. It's not our world anymore.
I'd like to see age limits. Absolutely, no one seventy or older can run or hold office. Actually, I'd like to bring that number down to sixty or sixty five.
Infidel - i think it's the "don't rock the boat" frame of mind that some of the people who've been in Congress for decades, schmoozing with their colleagues across the aisle, have to realize is poison to our democracy at this point. They're in long- held routines of collegiality that the other side may practice on the surface, but certainly doesn't adhere to in practice. Having a few fresh, articulate faces that match the demographics of the party better seems to be a no- brainer.
Anon - I think there needs to be turnover in leadership, but not strictly age- related. We need new blood, for certain. Until we get there, the older folks in leadership need to listen to younger voices and the zeitgeist of the party's younger base. Keep in mind there are some fine, "youthful thinking" Dems who are more in our age group (Elizabeth Warren is 69, Sherrod Brown is 65, for example, and Bernie managed to attract plenty of young voters in his 70's). I agree, though, that there is a generational shift about to take place, most certainly for the better.
What we should not do is create barriers for new faces. I've been a Democrat all my life, somewhere to the left of Gandhi, but I get so impatient with my party. They still want to play nice and try to reconcile with the Republicans. It may have worked twenty years ago, but not now. They not only don't play by the rules, they ignore them completely and make up their own. Mitch McConnell comes to mind. So now we have to get our Senators and Representatives be welcome new people with open arms and open minds.
New ideas with broader applications might help broaden support across the party. We need to motivate people of all ages and genders to run for office. It's got to be a no holds barred front, getting as many voices in chorus as we can.
It is going to be literally a fight for our lives.
Hackwhacker - I hear you. I thought about all the good ones who are in their sixties and coming up on seventy. Then I think about Mitch, Orrin, McCain and many others who should have voluntarily retired years ago.
Anon - good point. We need to be the party of the future, and reflect that in our officeholders to the greatest extent possible.
donnah -- It's good to have "huggers," but now more than ever, we need "fighters" and not necessarily those that follow the Marquis of Queensbury rules when the other side brings machetes.
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