A defining moment of the 2020 election was when Eric Swalwell looked at Joe Biden, the 76-year-old front-runner, and told him to “pass the torch.”
“I was six years old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic convention and said it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell, a 38-year-old Democratic representative from California. “That candidate was then-Sen. Joe Biden. He was right when he said that 32 years ago. He is still right today.”
Biden was standing on the same debate stage. His reaction was one of shock and amusement. “I’m holding on to that torch. I want to make it clear,” he shot back.
This interaction was representative of an internal, generational struggle in the Democratic Party. Between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent feud with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the presidential candidates’ primary battles, the fight over who should lead the party threatens to destroy any political progress Democrats hope to make.
The younger Democratic voters, educated in liberal public universities and invigorated by social justice mantras, believe hard-left policies are the future of the party and of the nation. They see Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay mayor who cloaks far-left policies behind a facade of moderation, as the path forward. Kamala Harris’s bold prosecution of Biden on the second debate night is a tactic they embrace. The young liberal folk want action, and they want it now. There’s no room for the Joe Bidens, the Amy Klobuchars, or the Andrew Yangs, who not only listen to but also appeal to those on the other side of the aisle.
This fanaticism will probably cost the Democrats the White House in 2020.
Pelosi isn’t having it. “Some of you are here to make a beautiful pâté, but we’re making sausage,” Pelosi told her caucus during a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning. “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.” On attacking moderates, Pelosi said: “Think twice. Actually, don’t think twice. Think once.” This prompted AOC to do what the newer, younger Democrats do best when confronted with someone who tells them “no” — imply Pelosi is a racist.
Pelosi has tired of fending off AOC’s threats just like Biden has tired of being called a racist, Sanders is done being told he’s out-of-touch, and Warren is over the cultural appropriation accusations. But the New Democrats have only just begun to fight, and after just a few months in office, AOC has established herself as the party’s leader-in-waiting. She’s the hallmark leader of a generation raised in safe spaces and a vitriolic online culture. Because of this, AOC and the younger presidential candidates will win the battle for the Democratic Party’s ideological future. The Democratic Party that will emerge from the 2020 election will be a much different party than the one that entered this race. But it will not win voters.
A new Axios poll found that out of the 74% voters in swing states who recognized AOC, 22% had a favorable view, and out of the 53% who knew Ilhan Omar, only 9% approved. Socialism was viewed unfavorably by 69% of registered voters. The New Democrats are isolating the only voters who can give them victory: the moderates and economic Trump voters who they’ve called sellouts and racists.
Democratic veterans such as Pelosi and Biden will eventually pass the torch. They’ll have to. But it will likely cost Democrats the White House, once again.
