For all the talk of Republicans as “old, white men,” the Democratic presidential field looks more monolithic.
With Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz as Generation X nominees, the Democratic Party has a noticeable problem with finding Gen X Democrats to carry the party into the future, Scott Timberg writes for Salon.
“Despite the long-standing association of Democrats with young people, a number of forces have pushed Americans born between 1964 and 1980 – one definition of Gen Xers – to the political right,” Timberg notes.
A few, such as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, have growing influence among Democrats, but Ronald Reagan’s tenure as president might have pulled more Gen Xers to the Right in ways that baby boomers and millennials were not attracted.
Much like the Reagan shift of the 1980s, some Democrats detect a chance with the rise of millennials, but they need “to unify and boldy grasp” the opportunity. That won’t happen if they rest on a self-assurance that changing demographics, and an increase in Hispanic and black Americans, will carry them to electoral dominance.
Democrats have been dominated by Republicans on the state and local levels. A blind faith in demographics and stable voting blocs is comforting for strategy sessions, but it’s fleeting in reality. If Democrats can’t develop Gen Xer leadership to guide the party during the next decade or two, they will struggle. Especially as Democratic millennials want the party to look more like the democratic socialist populism of Bernie Sanders and less like the technocratic pragmatism of Hillary Clinton, they’ll need Gen Xers to bridge that divide, not aging boomers.
Political parties evolve. The challenges that face the Democrats differ from the Republicans, but the GOP has so far been more willing to acknowledge their problems.
A Democratic delusion and a lack of young leadership is great news for Republicans. It gives them an opportunity to rebrand themselves as in sync with voters and willing to evolve and confront new challenges. A less competitive Democratic Party, however, could be bad news for public debate.
