Youthful Wisdom

 Given the 68% support for Democratic candidates in the mid-term election among the 18-30 demographic, it is imperative that the party’s leadership prioritizes the issues important to young voters in order to sustain their support well into the future. This point was emphasized during a recent MSNBC interview by the excellent Mehdi Hasan of the newest (and youngest) member of Congress, Maxwell Alejandro Frost from the 10 Congressional District in Florida. When asked if Frost foresaw his generation’s continued affiliation with the Democratic Party, Frost quickly, clearly, and emphatically responded by saying that it was likely ‘if the Democratic Party does not take our vote for granted’. 

This echoes the sentiment expressed by older progressives who have been given only tacit acceptance by the party’s hierarchy in recent years. The abrupt dismissal of the Sanders candidacy during the Democratic primaries in 2020 still resonates with an air of abandonment after Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina rallied a cadre of moderates to fall in lock-step support of Biden at a time when the outcome of the delegate count was still in serious question. Many of us will not soon forget the pronouncement of media spokesman James Carville when he arrogantly announced on the same MSNBC network that ‘it’s past time to put this puppy to bed’. The meaning was clear: the Democratic establishment had decided to end the democratic process whereby genuine inter-party debate could be carried out through the primary season. In a heathy democracy, robust and extended debate is encouraged; not feared. In a healthy democracy, all votes are counted so that all voices can be heard.

In his first prime-time interview, Representative Frost has issued an implicit warning that to regard this new wave of progressives in the manner described above would be done so at the peril of the Democratic Party going forward. The issues of global climate change, domestic gun violence and control, universal health care, the full embrace of the reality of a vibrant multicultural society, gender equality and reproductive rights, a reassessment of how our resources are distributed, the installment of a fair and just judicial system, a rethinking of the rate and manner of incarceration as well as authentic prison reform, and serious scrutiny of the military industrial complex, which has robbed/wasted trillions of dollars better spent elsewhere for the common/collective good of the society as a whole. These young citizens are serious about the above issues and bring asense of urgency and an unequivocal desire to implement policies designed to address them. In the years to come, the Democratic Party is well-advised to follow the lead provided by its youthful vanguard. The party’s future viability and political relevance will be determined by their acceptance of its junior members.

The Mid-Term Election, Speculation on the Near Future, and a Hopeful Look Ahead

The recent historic mid-term performance by the Democrats should properly be viewed as more of a repudiation of Trump (where a large number of his endorsed candidates seriously underperformed) than an endorsement of the incumbent president whose unfavorable ratings continue to hover at low-40 per cent levels. Nevertheless, the Democratic establishment is likely to view it as an affirmation of a centrist ideology and ride Biden (or his surrogate) to another victory in 2024 as the Republicans remain tethered to the sinking political vessel captained by a hapless neo-fascists whose political vision is best characterized by his narcissistic need for self-aggrandizement and unconditional fealty from a cadre of sycophants.

Emboldened (and possibly blinded) by their success in capturing that sliver of the electorate (former blue dog Democrats, moderate Republicans, and Independents), they will continue to run the risk of alienating its younger and more sustainable base of support going forward. Meanwhile, the Republicans will be hard at work to reconstitute themselves in 2028, using Liz Chaney as a model, to court the aforementioned group in the middle away from a Democratic Party unwilling to genuinely embrace wildly popular policies regarding gun violence/control, women’s body-sovereignty, the realization of a multi-cultural society, the urgency of climate change action, reshaping the criminal justice system, and universal health coverage as a human right, all of which directly appeals to mainstream Democrats and, vitaly, is supported by an eager and vast new generation of voters in desperate need of proper representation. Implicit and ongoing neglect of this essential element of the political landscape threatens to leave the Democratic Party tragically devoid of the very fabric they will need to create a sustainable and viable political tapestry well into the middle of the 21st century.

This rather dire forecast is in no way inevitable and can be averted by a serious and concerted effort by the Democrats to genuinely incorporate the ideas and passions of established Generation X progressives (AOC, Keith Ellison, Cory Booker,et al) and the increasingly influential representatives that will certainly emerge from Generation Z (please see the recent election of 25 year old Maxwell Alejandro Frost in Florida’s 10th Congressional District) all of whom will provide the energy, vision, and impetus to deliver new vitality to an archaic political structure and to a nation in urgent need of an existential paradigm shift.