Democrats (Still) Don't Understand the Nature of Power

Just over a month from now, national Democrats will lose their last lever of power when President Joe Biden leaves office and Donald Trump makes his dystopian return. In a capital in which they’ll hold no legislative or authoritative sway over the mechanics of government, one would hope Democrats would understand the nature of their position: Whatever power they achieve will have to be perceived, rather than actual.

Unfortunately for them, and for the rest of the country, the Democratic Party has long been uncomfortable with the nature and uses of power, recently, save one person: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. She’s long been seen as a more than worthy adversary by Republicans in Washington. Her decision to move ahead with a January 6th Committee, that included two Republicans, was brilliant.

Which is why her decision to actively oppose Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bid for the Ranking Member position on the House Oversight Committee makes little sense in a broader context of party well out of power.

If perception is reality, than the House Democratic Caucus’ decision to elevate Congressman Gerry Connelly (VA-11) is further proof that the old guard is unwilling to release their reins on the party that desperately needs new direction, leadership, and spirit.

In a year where Pelosi spearheaded the effort to push Joe Biden off the Democratic ticket because of his age, Connelly’s maintenance of his role at 74 years old and battling esophogeal cancer makes little sense. Either age matters or it doesn’t. Rep. Don Beyer’s assertion that Connelly is a “young 74” continues the sort of gaslighting that depressed and dispirited so many Democratic voters and activists earlier this year.

Don’t tell us we’re not seeing what we’re seeing.

The New Deal Generation

The old Democratic House mandarins have long been at odds with AOC, based on her (previous) willingness to primary Members, the Green New Deal rollout, or her cutting and incisive criticism of her own party as not all that different from the GOP. She isn’t of, or in favor, of the status quo. NEWS FLASH: Neither is the rest of the country!

Their decision to hold those grudges, and I believe that’s what this was, is bad for their caucus, bad for their party, and bad for the country. Ocasio-Cortez is in perception and reality is a natural political talent.

While talent alone can take many far and high, her ability to learn on the job since she took office makes her doubly valuable as someone who understands the landscape and the needs of Washington combat in the second decade of the 21st century. She is of this time, of her generation, and of the zeitgeist that pervades and confuses most of us (myself included.)

To leave her on the bench is a mistake. Full stop.

Given that a Republican-led House Oversight Committee isn’t going to give Democrats too many opportunities to state their case against the Trump administration, it only holds that the person who is best able to dismantle witnesses and have her words picked up by all major media outlets and pushed far and wide on social media platforms where younger voters spend their time (it’s not Twitter or Bluesky) is a no-brainer.

Perhaps most importanly, the Republicans know how good she is! They’re laughing at their feckless House mates for yet another own goal.

Yet, here we are.

Let me return to perception. The Democratic Party saw awful demographic shifts away from their candidates in 2024. Despite their long-held standing as the party of the working class, of non-white Americans, and of women’s rights, few of those appears to be true. You can tell people what you are all day. What they see will the be the reality upon which they act.

To put another old white guy atop a key post at the behest of a bunch of other old white Establishment types, puts paid to the idea that Democratic leadership really cares more about the type of voters in AOC’s district (which they need) and those in Connelly’s lily-white, suburban, affluent Northern Viriginia district (which they have, but maybe not for long.)

The downstream effects of an intra-caucus election little-heeded by average Americans shouldn’t be undersold. Younger voters and voters of color did not come to the Democrats’ rescue this year. When presented with Harris and Donald Trump, far too many of them chose to stay home. The perception of the party’s distance, philosophically and economically, from the party’s base (and many swing voters) is only exacerbated by Ocasio-Cortez’s relegation.

Despite 100,000 years to the contrary, one of humanity’s enduring traits is that those in power perptually see themselves as immortal. We are all blessed and cursed with a limited amount of time on Planet Earth, and too often when it’s time to turn the reins over, those in power refuse to do so. This played out in the presidential election and now in the US House.

Speaker Pelosi and her allies maintain enormous sway, and powers of persuasion within their caucus. They must now take a hard look at where they are, what they can best to do position the Democratic Party (the only pro-democracy party we have left) for success in the future. The longer they endure, the harder it will become for rising stars like AOC and Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies to truly establish themselves.

The next two years will be difficult for the United States of America. For a Democratic Party in the wildnerness, it will be harder still. As we all prepare for what’s coming, we can only hope that the people who claim to represent the alternative to Trumpism will do their level best to demonstrate they’re worthy of another look. For now, it’s business as usual, and that’s a bad business indeed.

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