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Biden’s less-than-stellar debate performance against Trump raised alarms among many Democrats.
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It also illuminated the party’s past struggles in building a farm team of future leaders.
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The debate will likely lead Democrats to rethink how power is transferred to younger generations.
After President Joe Biden’s so-so debate performance on Thursday night, many Democrats began to panic.
With voters already in doubt about Biden’s readiness for a second term due to concerns Despite his advanced age, party leaders wanted the president to use the debate not only to reassure the electorate, but also to make an impression that could turn the race in his favor.
But that didn’t happen. And now many Democrats are wondering whether Biden should leave the race.
Being faced with this decision just five months before the election is due, in part, to one of the Democratic Party’s most persistent problems: its snail’s pace in transferring power to younger generations.
Generational change
For 20 years, Nancy Pelosi led House Democrats as part of a leadership team that included veteran lawmakers Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn. It was not until 2023 that Representative Hakeem Jeffries from New York, a member of Generation X, has finally taken on the mantle of leading the caucus.
In House primaries across the country, young democrat candidates are routinely ignored by party leaders and organizations who often support more established candidates.
In 2020, Biden promised to be a “bridge” to a new cohort of the Democrats. But four years later, he decided to run for re-election.
His debate performance against former President Donald Trump exposed this resistance to generational change. If Biden remains in the race but fails to convince wavering voters that he is ready for the job, it could endanger Democrats in other critical races.
What do Democrats need?
Jeffries’ recent ascension, along with the elevation of Katherine Clark to the position of House Democratic leader and Pete Aguilar to the chairmanship of the House Democratic Caucus, was a welcome generational change — the kind the party had generally previously avoided in favor of the experience.
Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his vice president also represented a passing of the torch of sorts. Shortly after the pair won the 2020 election, Harris said they would be “full partners.” The president agreed, noting that he had not made any significant personal decisions without her.
Many Democrats celebrated the arrival of this younger guard, especially as the party has often lagged behind Republicans in building a farm team of future leaders.
The concern now is: were these recent efforts too little too late?
So far, Biden has given no indication that he is dropping out of the race. If he remains the nominee, Democrats need him to perform well. His political destiny will have broad ramifications in the main electoral disputes.
No matter what Biden decides, his debate performance will likely accelerate Democratic efforts to cultivate younger leaders who could one day run for the White House, especially since Gen X, millennials and Gen Z will make up the majority of the electorate. In the next years. decade.
Read the original article at Business Insider
