The two conventions have shown that Democrats have a deep bench of political talent while Republicans may be stuck with MAGA candidates for some time.
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Now that their respective conventions are in the books, it’s the perfect time to take stock of the status of the major parties and their respective futures… and both Donald Trump and the Democrats must be immensely pleased.
Let’s first look at the former president, who has managed to remake the GOP in his image. He has shut down any dissenting voices and turned Republicans into the kind of cult that is the ultimate dream of any malignant narcissist.
Think about it: What the people suffering from that particular mental illness want is to be adored, and Trump has become a quasi-messianic figure for tens of millions of people. If the former president were capable of an emotion other than anger and feeling aggrieved, he would be ecstatic.
Of course, turning the GOP into the MAGA Party has come at a cost that regular Republicans (admittedly a dying breed) will have to pay in coming years.
Trump’s convention reflected that.
It often seemed more like a royal coronation than anything else. Everything was about either praising or appeasing Trump. If you weren’t ready to bend the knee, you didn’t need to bother showing up.
And, in fact, it was the absences (and who was allowed to speak) that tell the story of this convention. Party elders from the pre-Trump era were not welcome. In fact, some probably would have needed to fear for their personal safety, like former Vice President Mike Pence or 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
The one exception was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who did attend but was promptly booed. It’s probably better for him that he did not speak because he probably would have been pelted with rotten fruit.
The Republicans who got to play more prominent roles (with the exception of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whom the former president needs) were all card-carrying MAGA acolytes, i.e., current and former officials as well as Trump-approved candidates and family members (but not Melania).
But none of them are popular, so it’s tough to see any of them taking the mantle as cult leader when the former president finally abdicates.
When that time comes, Republicans will realize that only Trump can be Trump.
The former president’s particular “brand” (and cocktail of psychoses) simply cannot be duplicated.
His running mate JD Vance is currently learning that the hard way. He tries to be Trumpian, but his lies and barbs routinely fall dismally flat… and nobody likes him.
While the former president is also not popular, at least the MAGA core loves him. That’s not true for Vance.
So, who is going to carry the tiki torch once Trump leaves the political stage?
Surely not any of the clowns who spoke at the Republican convention.
It is a completely different picture over on the Democratic side.
That’s actually a bit shocking because, in recent years, Democrats have made some terrible choices when it comes to their presidential candidate. Just over a month ago, there was a perception that they are a party led exclusively by old people like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi.
That changed almost overnight when Biden announced he would not seek reelection.
That decision quite literally rejuvenated his party.
Both Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be 60 years old on Election Day… and even they now seem to be transitional figures because, even if they are in office for two terms, it stands to reason that the next Democratic nominee will be (much) younger.
The Democratic National Convention has revealed an embarrassment of riches when it comes to future political stars… and the party is finally allowing them to shine.
In the world of international soccer, people speak of a “golden generation” when a country produces a whole bunch of outstanding talents in a short period of time who, presumably, will then be able to play together for a decade.
Right now, we may very well be at the onset of a golden generation of Democrats.
The only problem for the party may be that they can’t all be president.
First, there is a cadre of governors entering their political prime: Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer turns 53 today, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro is 51, and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear is only 46.
All of them are presiding over important swing states or, in Beshear’s case, even a deep-red state.
The jury is still out on others who recently took office, like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Arizona’s Katie Hobbs, or Maura Healey from Massachusetts, all of whom are not yet 55 years old.
With these young (in political terms) guns waiting in the wings, it seems as though the window of presidential opportunity is already closing for others like California Gov. Gavin Newsom (56 years old) or Illinois’s J.B. Pritzker (59 years old).
But it’s not just governors. Let’s look to Congress.
There are a few young lawmakers who could play a major role on the national stage in the not-so-different future.
There are senators like Georgia’s Jon Ossoff (37 years old) and Raphael Warnock (55 years old), as well as another half dozen lawmakers who have not yet turned 60 (which makes them spring chickens in the Senate).
Over on the House side, nobody has more potential to excite a young Democratic base than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who turns 35 in October (which means she is barely old enough to even be eligible to run for president).
Speaking of “turning,” in a rousing speech at the convention she already positioned herself as more of a moderate rather than a left-wing firebrand. If she manages to pull off that transformation, Ocasio-Cortez will be a formidable force in the party.
It doesn’t even stop there. The Democratic bench also includes the likes of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (42 years old), who has a history of operating in hostile territory… in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer and on Fox News as a Democrat.
So, what does this all mean for 2028 (assuming that Trump doesn’t run as an 82-year-old if he loses in November) or 2032?
Well, let’s look at some of the potential matchups down the road:
Shapiro/Whitmer vs. Donald Trump Jr./Eric Trump
Whitmer/Shapiro vs. Cruz/Boebert
Beshear/AOC vs. Vance/MTG
Buttigieg/Healey vs. Bartiromo/Whoever the Leader of the Proud Boys Is
Hobbs/Ossoff vs. Hulk Hogan/Amber Rose
You catch our drift.
The future for Democrats is bright… and the party finally seems ready to move on from an older generation of leaders and embrace its young stars.
The GOP, on the other hand, could find itself completely rudderless once Trump exits the political stage with no heir apparent in sight.
