Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Rep. Alcee Hastings was 84 years old and battling pancreatic cancer. He was nearing his third decade in Congress. But he just couldn\u2019t quit his House seat.<\/p>\n
So he ran again last November and won his South Florida-based district, only to die in April. His death created a vacancy that made House Democrats\u2019 already slim majority even smaller \u2014 and now his seat will remain vacant until January, thanks to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who aimed to keep the solidly Democratic seat unoccupied for as long as possible by scheduling the special election nine months after Hastings\u2019 death.<\/p>\n
The entire episode has brought into sharp focus an awkward conversation that Democrats have been having for a while: at a time of deep polarization and narrow congressional majorities, do older or infirm members have a responsibility to step down to ensure the party has enough votes to advance its agenda?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe older generation does not want to pass the baton. You don\u2019t have to die in your seat. Pass the baton on,\u201d said Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, a 37-year-old Democrat who lives in Hastings\u2019 district.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make sure that I\u2019m not stepping into ageism, but we have a bench problem,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have so many good young elected officials, but they\u2019re on the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeSantis\u2019 scheduling move led to howls of protest<\/a> in the majority-Black district because its residents will go without elected representation for so long. But privately there\u2019s a growing realization among Florida Democrats that Hastings\u2019 refusal to leave office helped enable the outcome.<\/p>\n Both parties have their share of elderly members (Iowa GOP Sen. Charles Grassley is considering running again next year<\/a> for a term that would end when he is 93). But Democrats have been grappling with a noticeable generational divide within their ranks for some time \u2014 President Joe Biden and top Democratic congressional leaders are all well over 70. Ten of the 12 House members over the age of 80 are Democrats.<\/p>\n The issue has taken on an increased urgency given the party\u2019s tenuous hold on Congress. The loss of just one Democrat would tip the balance of power in the Senate, which has heightened scrutiny of its oldest member, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who has faced recent questions<\/a> about her fitness for office. She turned 88 on Tuesday. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy \u2014 now 81 and running for reelection to his ninth term<\/a> \u2014 had a brief hospital scare in January that alarmed activists.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of the few wake-up calls: Holy s—, we are one stroke or car wreck or Me Too scandal from not having a Senate majority,\u201d said Julian Brave NoiseCat, vice president of policy and strategy for the liberal think tank Data for Progress. \u201cIt is the thinnest majority you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats have a slightly larger margin in the House, but that advantage has been whittled down in recent months by Hastings\u2019 death and other departures. <\/p>\n That\u2019s led to mounting frustration with the old guard, as well as a feeling of dread that the party is just a heartbeat away from losing control of at least one chamber of Congress.<\/p>\n Progressive activists like NoiseCat are increasingly concerned that issues important to Generation Z and millennial voters \u2014 such as climate change, voting rights and criminal justice reform \u2014 are stalled in the hidebound Senate, where the lack of action could depress turnout next year and flip control of one or both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a generation of young progressives energized by politics, and a big question in front of the Democratic Party in terms of its ability to channel that energy is whether or not they can deliver on issues that matter to young people,\u201d NoiseCat said.<\/p>\n Worries about the make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court \u2014 where the September death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, enabled President Donald Trump to replace her with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, 49 \u2014 are also coloring the debate.<\/p>\n Justice Stephen Breyer, 82 and one of the high court\u2019s three liberal justices, faces an organized effort to pressure him to retire and make way for a replacement. <\/p>\n Brian Fallon, a top Democratic operative and executive director of the advocacy group Demand Justice, said Breyer\u2019s arguments for staying on the court resemble those made by Ginsburg and older politicians like Leahy, who point out that they\u2019re still doing a good job and remain the best choices for their positions. <\/p>\n \u201cThe big divide in the Democratic Party is as much ideological as it is generational,\u201d Fallon said, adding that it\u2019s not just about policy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt applies to how politics is conducted, beyond taxes and crime and the war on drugs,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no more patience for the idea that the Republicans are going to negotiate in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 31-year-old progressive who won her New York seat in 2018 by defeating a longtime Democratic incumbent, reminded her Twitter followers earlier this month that the 2009 death of 77-year-old Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy stymied President Barack Obama\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the Obama admin, folks thought we\u2019d have a 60 Dem majority for a while. It lasted 4 months,\u201d she tweeted. \u201cDems are burning precious time & impact negotiating w\/GOP who won\u2019t even vote for a Jan 6 commission. [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell\u2019s plan is to run out the clock. It\u2019s a hustle. We need to move now.\u201d<\/p>\n Waleed Shahid, a Democratic strategist and spokesperson for the group Justice Democrats, said he wants the 78-year-old president, 70-year-old Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 70, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 81, to realize that time is ticking for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t inherently have a problem with a politician\u2019s age,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cThe issue is that the Democratic Party\u2019s narrow control of the federal government could be upended by illness or death at any moment. That fact should be giving Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi much more urgency to get a broad agenda through Congress as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n