There are a few extremely clear reasons that Democrats lost the election—not the least of which include clinging on to an unpopular, eighty-something-year-old incumbent for way too long. Now we have a second Trump presidency to prepare ourselves for, and top Democrats are taking that threat about as seriously as you’d expect.
On Tuesday, after 84-year-old Nancy Pelosi reportedly whipped the vote from a hospital bed following her hip replacement earlier this month, House Democrats elected 74-year-old Gerry Connolly of Virginia over 35-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to lead the party on the House Oversight Committee. Connolly won by a 131-84 margin.
Democrats on the Oversight Committee will take on an especially dire role under the Trump administration. After all, the committee is charged with ensuring efficiency and accountability in the federal government. Trump's first term was nothing if not notorious for its hourly corruption scandals, whether it was his lack of tax returns or suspicious activities surrounding his businesses. If I were Pelosi, I'd actively work toward—not against—electing a top Oversight Democrat who's energetic and charismatic, a formidable communicator with bonafide progressive values. Instead, reportedly at Pelosi's behest, they elected a 74-year-old man currently undergoing treatment for throat cancer.
The Virginia Democrat will replace Jamie Raskin, who’s set to become the top Judiciary Committee Democrat. As Slate’s Alexander Sammon put it, “The Democrats' ‘changing of the guard’ in the House concludes with Oversight going from a guy with cancer in his early 60s to a guy with cancer in his mid 70s. Torch passed!” (Raskin, 62, is also a cancer survivor.)
In November, Connolly shared his diagnosis, writing in a statement, “Over the next few months as I do my job here in our district and on the Hill, I may be a bit fatigued due to the treatment. I hope you’ll understand.” I think we all understand and wish him well—but the idea that he should be doing anything but resting and recovering, and certainly not leading the party in the fight of its life against Donald Trump, is head-spinning.
Or, I suppose it’s only head-spinning if, at this point, you don’t recognize the Democratic Party for what it is—a party that increasingly seems, if not committed to losing, then committed to killing any spark of hope or excitement among key swaths of its base and doing so with ruthless efficiency.
Connolly's qualifications include leading House Democrats through the escalating, Tea Party attacks that constantly plagued the Obama administration. I'd love to be proven wrong and watch him lead Democrats effectively come January. But it’s clear and has been for years that Ocasio-Cortez is the future of the party. She’s one of the most visible and well-liked Democrats in the nation, pulling off what few have been able to do by working effectively with party leadership and still managing to court the party’s diverse, increasingly young and progressive base. In her bid for top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, she received endorsements from both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus—caucuses representing key constituencies that the party needs but is increasingly alienating, as returns from November’s election show. The majority of Democrats currently on Oversight backed Ocasio-Cortez, too. Still, at the apparent urging of Pelosi, on the phone from her hospital bed, House Democrats elected a man who one Connolly backer—Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, also 74—called “a young 74, cancer notwithstanding.” What a glowing, exciting endorsement!
Ocasio-Cortez has close to 13 million followers on Twitter; Connolly has about 82,000. (She was also the first user to hit one million followers on Bluesky... which Connolly has yet to join.) That’s not to say Congress should be a social media popularity contest, but in the second Trump era, strong messengers will be vital to the Democrats' survival. We’ve all seen the videos of her wielding her seat on Oversight to masterfully grill corporate executives and rail against government corruption, with language and passion that cut through the bullshit and inspire ordinary Americans to care. Waving off Ocasio-Cortez’s massive, well-earned platform and ability to connect with the Democratic base seems like a huge, missed opportunity for the party.
And… for what? To adhere to a dated seniority system and satisfy the egos of 60 and 70-somethings who have been patiently waiting their turn, all while the world quite literally burns? Following Connolly’s victory, journalist Ken Klippenstein described the Democratic Party as “the Make-A-Wish foundation but for old people.” This is an untenable approach to taking on Trump 2.0. And while it’s nothing new from the same party that sicced Joe Biden on us in 2020 and clung to him until the last minute in 2024, the commitment to gerontocracy is especially infuriating when far stronger options like Ocasio-Cortez are right there and eager to serve.
