Democrats have a swath of fiery leaders within their ranks, but instead of elevating their stars and ushering them to the podium, the Democratic establishment looks for any opportunity to throw them under the bus or ignore them entirely.
Ninety-four percent of Democratic voters under the age of 30 say that they want someone other than President Joe Biden to be the party’s standard bearer in 2024—particularly one that isn’t going to be in their 80s in their next term. What could Democratic leadership possibly be thinking by marginalizing—rather than embracing the youthful base, and advancing to the forefront the fierce progressives in Congress?
Last week, outgoing White House Communications Officer Kate Bedingfield said of Biden’s response to the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade: “Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party.”
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President Biden was buoyed into the White House by a diverse coalition of voters who had had enough of Trump and Trumpism, and wanted their country back. Sadly, 18 months later things don’t look much better now than they were a year ago, as too many Americans are buckling under the weight of inflation and the high cost of living, hence the frustration and feelings of despondency. And instead of listening to its own people representing “the people,” Democratic leadership is openly attacking them.
According to New York Times/Siena poll numbers this week, the Biden administration shouldn’t be the only ones worried—every single American that believes in democracy and the rule of law should have a five-alarm fire bell going off in their heads. As it stands, a little over 100 days until the midterm elections, 64 percent of Democrats are signaling that they want a new standard-bearer of the Democratic Party.
Couple this with the catastrophic rise in mass shootings, inflation, the prevalence of white supremacy, the anxiety and stress that has led Americans to medicate at higher numbers than before the pandemic—and you have a recipe for disaster.
While the Democratic establishment has wanted to focus on “kitchen table” issues they think Americans care about—many can think of no more important kitchen table issue than being able to feed all of the mouths at that table–and wondering how one can do this if they are needing to leave the workforce because they are being forced to give birth by the state.
Many within the ranks of the Democratic Party, including AOC (who hasn’t committed to endorsing Biden in 2024), have ceased being silent on their dismay with the lack of urgency being taken to address how Republicans are able to roll back abortion rights, force LGBTQ+ people back in the closet, ban books, and write a bevy bills to secure white comfort, without so much as a hint of forceful action from this administration—like calling for a public health emergency following the reversal of Roe.
Those who bring attention to the fact that this administration, and the party at large, aren’t meeting the moment are met with ire from the establishment for recognizing reality. While the truth about our backsliding democracy bares itself with each passing day, this doesn’t have to be the Democrats’ story. There is still time for a much needed wake up call and pivot.
It’s been made quite clear who represents the present and future of the Republican Party. Leadership is mostly hands off with the unhinged QAnon-supporting, white nationalist conference-attending Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has become a GOP fundraising powerhouse. And Republican leadership hasn’t done a thing over the fact Rep. Mo Brooks was prepared for battle on Jan. 6, or that Rep. Paul Gosar implicitly threatened violence against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when he tweeted a video of him beheading his fellow member of Congress.
The reality is none of their morally-questionable members have been shunned–but the GOP did expel two members—Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney—from their ranks for the sin of embracing the reality of the 2020 election outcome (and for wanting Trump to be held accountable for attempting a coup).
Whether you are looking within the current makeup of Congress—or to the governors playing “hold my beer” with their competition to roll out the most draconian laws possible—it is evident who is waiting in the wings to take Trump’s baton if the former president should end up in a orange jumpsuit or otherwise choose not to run in 2024.
And yet the same can’t be said for the Democratic Party. They have no idea who’s next to lead.
Americans want and need fighters right now. They want leaders that are telling them they are willing to go to the mat for them, go to the courts for them, and share in their rage. They want leaders that didn’t cut their teeth in politics in another century with backroom deals, cigars, and scotch.
What would it look like to have Rep. Ocasio-Cortez be the leading voice to push back against Republican opposition? How many working class Americans would be fired up to vote if Rep. Cori Bush was designated to lead get out the vote strategies? What would it look like if the expanded Squad was lifted up as the present and future warriors for democracy?
It would look like hope.
It would feel like a pipeline of talent wasn’t being wasted, but instead infused with the attention and power they need to ignite the country in the fight for their lives. It would look like the intergenerational combat team that’s needed to push back against a far-right agenda whose main goal is violence, oppression, and authoritarian rule by any means necessary.
Democrats can, in fact, win. They have facts and public outrage on their side. The question is do they have the presence of mind to recognize the power of their younger ranks before the clock runs out?
