The Democrats REALLY Don't Have a Bench

Last week, PJ Media’s Rick Moran reported on the shocking dearth of future candidates for higher office among Democrats. He noted that President Biden appears unlikely to run for reelection in 2024 and reviewed the possible replacements the Democrats could put on the presidential ticket:

But, when scanning the Democratic horizon, party members are at a loss: why is there so little “new blood” coming into national prominence recently? The 2020 race indicated a superannuated party leadership with three major candidates in their 70s. And if the candidates for president weren’t too old, they were too obscure to be taken seriously.

The gay mayor of a small American city? An obscure congresswoman from a tiny state? A former Republican mayor of New York City? No heft. No “gravitas” as political pros refer to when talking about a potential lightweight candidate.

Let’s not even seriously entertain the current Vice President. Speaking of no gravitas, Word Salad Kamala doesn’t exactly inspire Democrats with hope for future success. And President Ice Cream Cone is hardly producing any coattails that might refill that pipeline (seems like pipelines aren’t the Democrats’ bag).

In Moran’s report, he placed the blame squarely at the feet of one Barack Hussein Obama:

So why is this? The dearth of quality candidates can be traced back to the Obama presidency when the party lost massive numbers of state legislative races. More than 1,400 Democratic incumbent state representatives and senators lost their jobs because the Obama political machine only cared about the boss.

When one examines current office holders by age, it becomes readily apparent how bad things have gotten for the Democrats. Of the twelve youngest governors in America, eight are Republicans:

Ron Desantis (R-FL): 43 years old
Andy Beshear (D-KY): 44 years old
Spencer Cox (R-UT): 46 years old
Jared Polis (D-CO): 47 years old
Chris Sununu (R-NH): 47 years old
Tate Reeves (R-MS): 47 years old
Kevin Stitt (R-OK): 49 years old
Kristi Noem (R-SD): 50 years old
Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI): 50 years old
Eric Holcomb (R-IN): 54 years old
Gavin Newsom (D-CA): 54 years old
Glenn Youngkin (R-VA): 55 years old

Looking at that list, which potential candidates have all the momentum? It sure doesn’t seem like the four Democrats.

It feels like the Democrats were hitching all their hopes to Andrew Cuomo — until he went all Cuomo on them.

Voters often prefer their presidential candidates to have executive experience. Traditionally, senators who throw their hat in the ring have struggled either to convince voters to put them in office or to govern once they get there. Governors, on the other hand, have a track record of running an executive department and can demonstrate some aptitude for the job on the national stage. Having a strong bench of relatively young up-and-comers gives the GOP yet more advantages in 2024.

In fact, the ones on the list that seem most likely to ascend to higher office also share another trait — they’ve led the fight in the most important culture wars of our time. DeSantis stands out, with his frontal assault on wokeism in schools and corporate board rooms (Disney). He’s not the only one: Stitt just signed a very strong pro-life bill in Oklahoma; Noem has attempted to position herself as a culture warrior (with mixed results); and Youngkin became the face of the fight against Critical Race Theory and transgenderism in elementary schools.

Who do the Democrats have? Gavin Newsom? Gretchen Whitmer? If either of those candidates has any higher aspirations, they don’t stand a chance.

To a great extent, as Rick Moran pointed out, they can thank a once-young president of their own party for their predicament.