Jennifer Rubin, columnist for the Washington Post, was at the convention in Chicago with her colleagues. She made a sage observation. The Democrats have a strong bench of new and young faces. The Republicans do not.
She wrote:
It has become evident during convention week that Democrats are blessed with three groups of leaders. The wise first group — Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, former speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and now Biden — has guided the party for the past generation, nationally making strides and keeping the Democratic coalition together. The domestic accomplishments they have collectively made would stand up to any other generation’s output. The second group’s time has come: Harris, Gov. Tim Walz (Minn.), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (Ga.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Gov. Josh Shapiro (Pa.). They are more media savvy than many in the older generation and better able to reach voters who are younger and more diverse. This second group’s challenge will be putting a stake through the MAGA movement and charting a path forward for a sustainable, center-left governing majority. The third, and most interesting, group includes the future stars, two of whom (Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (Tex.)) lit up the convention on Monday night. Other less flashy but equally compelling figures have the governing chops to win legislative battles and keep the party from straying too far left. These include Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Va.), who is running for governor; Rep. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), who is running for Senate; Rep. Mikie Sherrill (N.J.); and Rep. Dan Goldman (N.Y.), who distinguished himself by going toe-to-toe with Republicans who ineptly and corruptly tried to investigate the Bidens.
Republicans have nothing comparable. Trump has hollowed out and disgraced the party. Any rebuilding, if Trump loses, will likely have to fall to a new generation. Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and a flock of House and Senate extremists have dominated the GOP, turned off a great many voters and done immense damage to comity, the rule of law and good governance. One of the most attractive features of a possible Harris victory: Many prominent Republicans will be swept aside. We can only hope a better crop replaces them.
Note that Trump and his acolytes have driven the next generation of Republicans out of the party. Trump himself campaigned to defeat any member of Congress who voted to impeach him. Trump-aligned governors have “primaried” moderate Republicans. To be successful in today’s Republican Party, a candidate must pledge to defend The Big Lie. That hollows out good people like Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The GOP is a conglomeration of opportunists, religious fanatics and greedy billionaires that favor authoritarian rule instead of democracy. There is not much to get excited about as they have little to offer typical citizen. Their main appeal is to the ultra-wealthy and those that respond to fear and division.
The Democratic party has been revitalized under Biden’s leadership. Biden made the bold move to pivot from the failed neoliberal economic policies of the past. The younger Democrats understand that the key to success is a more inclusive economy, and they seek to reduce our income disparities by supporting unions and rebuilding the middle class. If the Democrats can win with enough of a margin to also take The House and Senate, there is the possibility that they could strengthen our legislative guardrails so that no one special interest group could hijack our democracy in the future, at least that is my hope.
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As usual, your observations are astute and interesting. I wonder if I summarize your view of the American electorate in s simpler statement: The GOP gets supper from people who are afraid of losing something; the Democrats gain support from those who hope to gain something.
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“The wise first group — Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, former speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and now Biden “
What, Billie kicked out of the club?
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Duane: I like Bill Clinton. But his reputation for philandering and lying about it never went away, nor the disappointment I felt in him as a leader. CBK
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In 2020 74M voted for Trump, do conventions translate at the polling place? How many Republicans or undecideds watch the four nights of the DNC? Bottom line: Get Out The Vote, GOTV. determines elections, $$ buys ads, get out your pen or click on a site and contribute what you can afford to the Harris/Walz campaign – raging against Trump on this site assuages your anger, it doesn’t win elections
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The country is hugely polarized. A ham sandwich would probably get 70 million votes if it were the nominee of one of the two major parties.
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“and keep the party from straying too far left.“
The Dims have a long way to go before “straying too far left.” The problem with the Dims since Billy Clinton is that they have tried to out right the rightist extremists. I’ve not seen hardly anything that would hint at the Dims straying too far left.
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I agree with that assessment, and I lay the blame squarely with voters. If those who wanted national healthcare had gone to the polls and voted for candidates who supported it, we could have moved that way when Bill put Hillary in charge of pushing for hearings in 93 or so. Instead, the congress rejected national healthcare, and barely passed the Obama version of Romneycare, a great gift for insurance companies.
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They voted for Republican candidates who wanted to privatize Medicare, for gosh sake! Maybe the majority of people want Medicare for All, but apparently they’d give up Medicare for anyone as long as their candidate told them that they could keep their assault weapons. Or they’d be protected from evil communist Democrats who want to take away all their private property.
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Roy: I guess that’s an example of what is meant by “corporate capture.” CBK
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Don’t forget the DNC’s youngest speaker from Florida- Maxwell Frost. Bet he appeals to the 20 and under group of voters and future voters!
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I doubt Trump knows he’s going to die at some point. And until then, to him, younger people are just more competition for him to bribe, screw, or subjugate to his will until he throws them under the bus.
But then there are his fine upstanding children. Since we are returning to tribalism, they are the next up for political power. CBK
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I would like to know what “too far left” means. This is just another demonization meant to do what? Not rock the boat? Keep sending weapons to assist genocide? Keep the status quo? Which of today’s politicians are too far left? Bernie Sanders? Jamaal Bowman? Rashida Tlaib? Personally, I was disappointed and angered when Nancy Pelosi aided in the reelection of Representative Henry Cuellar (Cuellar voted with Trump over half the time) over a progressive candidate in Texas and Hillary Clinton supported Jamaal Bowman’s primary opponent. Pelosi and Clinton are clearly corporate Democrats. Democratic leadership went so far as to blacklist firms that worked for progressive candidates.Does this mean progressives are too far left?
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