"As speaker of the House the first woman to hold that title she was masterful at holding a fractious and heterogenous Democratic coalition together. Without her, we probably wouldn't have the Affordable Care Act. She regularly showed excellent judgment, including on the Iraq War, which she was one of few leading Democrats to vote against. During Donald Trump's first term, she proved skilled at getting under his skin, regularly goading him to lash out like a petulant child."
"The most obvious example of that problem, of course, was Joe Biden's catastrophic decision to run for reelection at the age of 81. But the trouble goes far deeper. Democrats used to be the party of youthful vigor: think John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Even Lyndon Johnson, no one's idea of a fresh-faced tyro, was a mere 55 years old when he was sworn in in 1963. In recent years, the party got much older, and as it did,"
Nancy Pelosi served as Speaker of the House, the first woman in that role, and proved adept at holding a fractious Democratic coalition together. She helped secure the Affordable Care Act, opposed the Iraq War, and frequently provoked Donald Trump into public outbursts. Pelosi stepped aside from leadership in 2022 to allow younger leaders to emerge and now retires, highlighting a growing gerontocracy within the Democratic Party. Democratic ranks have aged relative to the past, with over 50 House Democrats aged 70 or older (Pelosi is 85) compared with about 30 Republicans; three Democratic members died in office this year. Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88, has struggled to do her job and sometimes fails to recognize longtime acquaintances.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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