This summer, President Biden’s age and whether he should remain or go almost tore Democrats off. In reality, the party’s ability to win the election may have been saved by the president’s earlier determination to bow out and allow other candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, to seek the Oval Office. The party’s manner and the gap between the old and new threaten to sever a path through the Democrat coalition. In fact, the competition between Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N. Y., to offer as the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee represented a portrait of that battle. The 74-year-old Connolly, recovering from gastrointestinal cancers, bested the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez for the high-profile position in the Democratic Caucus lately. The group’s direct assault canine for looming tangles with the incoming Trump presidency is expected to be the rank Democrat on that board, who will face Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. After AOC LOSES TOP SPOT ON HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, LOBAL MEDIA HOSTS A SLAM DEMOCRATIC PARTY. He was aware that selecting her would strengthen her position regarding the party’s manner. She represents what the Democrats believe, so I hope they placed her there. She’s a communist. She’s the designer of the Green New Deal in the House”, said Comer. It was a generational option for Liberals. Youth than knowledge. But what about the party’s potential? Ocasio-Cortez is an image of the progressive action. One of the highest watt members of Congress, albeit occasionally a thunder pole. Does the group want to promote liberal politicians like Ocasio-Cortez, who would be popular in Jackson Heights and College Point in New York’s left-leaning, diverse neighborhoods? Or learn how to engage large numbers of swing voters and also mild Democrats in Omaha, Nebraska, some of Ohio and the Dakotas? Liberals still dominate many of these areas today. House and Senate ambassadors in North and South Dakota were entirely made up of Democrats. Former Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., were social images in the Cornhusker State. At the national level, Ohio was a swing position. Connolly is by no stretch a” liberal” Democrat. He lacks the social excitement of Ocasio-Cortez. That is neither a positive nor a negative factor. Connolly is a mainstay. He can speak directly to the best of them on the committee dais or the House floor with the help of a flexible mind and significant legislator. DEMOCRATIC Managers CONCEDE PARTY BRAND IS’ IN THE Bathroom ‘ — AND Gowns BEING ‘GENEROUS’The issue is: Did House Democrats once thick the liberals? Did they once more forbid children and zeal? Vague. Ocasio-Cortez’s defeat would include signaled that the Democrats had veered left. One of the issues with the vote was caused by that. Some have more information on “youth” and “turning the site” in the party than retiring Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn, who received more support for the issue when he made a quixotic obstacle to President Biden in the group. Then Phillips is retiring from Congress. ” It is time to raise the best and brightest. We have actually kept them from ascending to authority posts, which means they go somewhere”, lamented Phillips. ” And when we lose that kind of expertise of optimistic, qualified, nationalist young Americans, we’re in difficulties “.Democrats are trying to figure out where they will get after a terrible election loss. The reconstruction of a strong alliance is a challenge. Particularly now that President-elect Trump has discovered a way to expand the GOP center and entice disgruntled voters in his way. ” It’s pretty obvious that the Democratic caucus has much valued persons who have been here a long time”, said Phillips, criticizing how the party doesn’t attract “young, brilliant Americans”. He said that Democrats” will continue losing” if they do not “open up” to younger voters. For his part, Connolly argued the old versus young debate was a “false narrative, frankly, propounded by the media”.But even as Connolly won, the party selected several younger lawmakers ( and keep in mind that “younger” is a relative term when it comes to Congress ) to serve as the ranking members on several committees. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N. Y., who is 77, stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee in favor of the practically spright 62-year-old Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. Raskin just recovered from lymphoma. DNC POWERHOUSE FUNDRAISER ANNOUNCES EXIT FROM DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOLLOWING ATTACKS: ‘ IT’S LIKE LEAVING A CULT’Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., a 78-year-old, was absent for much of the year suffering from cancer. The House Natural Resources Committee has a leading Democrat in its history. He stepped away from that role, while 60-year-old Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., defeated a newcomer to Congress— 45-year-old Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N. M., — to serve as ranking member of that panel. ” Only in Congress do I get to be young at 60 years old”, quipped Huffman. ” So it’s like the fountain of youth”.Like Grijalva, 79-year-old Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., was absent for chunks of time over the past year due to health problems. He is the agriculture committee’s top Democrat. Scott made a rescind his position. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., who is 72, and 52-year-old Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., challenged Scott, as Democrats clashed over age and experience. ” I don’t know that it’s a clash”, said Costa before the vote. Our Democratic Caucus has a “excellent group of members.” members who have recently won the election. However, we do have a strong bench, great experience, and a spectrum.” The younger Craig defeated Costa and Scott to take the top spot in agriculture. After prevailing, Craig did not focus on age. Instead, she addressed political practicalities. ” Democrats overall are not connecting with rural communities. That’s something we’ve been able to do in my district. I represent a D-plus one district and I just won it by about 14 percentage points”, said Craig. In other words, her district in southeastern Minnesota nominally favors Democrats, but the moderate Craig whipped her opponent. ” ( When ) we show up, we listen to people and they know that we care about them and about their lives”, said Craig. And I believe that the Democratic Party needs to do more of that. Show up. Listen. And make sure that people know they care about them “.As Democrats sorted out their committee leaders, yours truly spotted 78-year-old Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, near a Capitol stairway. DEMOCRATS HAVE BECOME ‘ DISTANT AND DETACHED ‘ FROM AMERICANS, BIDEN OFFICIAL RAHM EMANUEL WARNSKaptur is an anomaly in Congress, in so many ways. First elected in 1982, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in Congressional history. She’s a pro-life Democrat. And despite her seniority and, perhaps, gender, Kaptur has never been elected to chair or hold any position as the leading Democrat on any House committee. Much of that is attributable to her views on abortion. But Kaptur’s experience and Ocasio-Cortez’s experience bring this debate full circle. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advocated for Connolly over the New York Democrat. And for years, Kaptur asserts that the powerful Pelosi blocked her ascension, too. Kaptur observed that” the people who are elected in my party tend to come from the coasts,” adding that it took her a decade to even get a spot on the Appropriations roster. ” To do that, I had to defeat Nancy Pelosi on about five ballots. I began to understand how the so-called” Congress” operates. According to Kaptur, the majority of the Democratic ranking members on committees are” all from the coasts. They’re not from our region of America”.Kaptur believes the party must focus on “bread-and-butter issues at home” if they’re going to reclaim the voters who President-elect Trump scored in November. ” The President-elect was correct when he talked about prices when he went to a McDonald’s. That’s where so many of my constituents work and eat”, said Kaptur. She added that Trump’s ride in a garbage truck sealed the deal with working-class Americans. ” He artfully identified with their plight”, said Kaptur. That description from Kaptur is the most fundamental distillation of the entire presidential race. It explains many of the factors that contributed to Trump’s victory. It made clear how Democrats struggle to address “working class” Americans and those who emigrate from the middle of the country. Democrats will continue to lose on the party’s future as moderates and progressives, along with newcomers and the older guard. However, Kaptur’s political and electoral background is incontestable. In a state that Trump supported, she won re-election. That’s to say nothing of Sen. elect Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, winning statewide, as well. Democrats have disregarded and excluded members of important committees by omitting them from the FOX News app. Ocasio-Cortez lost to Connolly. Raskin, Huffman and Craig are now the top Democrats on several committees. It’s a mixture of younger members, but more pragmatism. Does it mean Democrats got the message? Not necessarily. Check back in six months to see if these maneuvers constitute significant course correction.