First there was AOC. Then Maxwell Frost joined her in the House of Representatives
Now Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have been thrust into the national spotlight, from out of all but local obscurity in Tennessee. A true nightmare for Republicans is about to unfold. They have lit a match to the potential powder keg that is the youth vote.
AOC was the first widely recognized national elected leader from her generation. Her courage, her clarity, her convictions and her style was an electrifying breath of fresh air for national politics. What was insufficiently recognized at the time was the fact that AOC's emergence was a precursor. Now Republicans, through their heavy fisted anti-democratic and racist power play in the Tennessee House, have turbo charged the embrace of electoral politics by potential voters under 30. All four of the young Democrats named here are charismatic. All four are extraordinarily impassioned and articulate. They are natural leaders. Now, in just 24 hours, the ranks of nationally recognized political voices from their generation has doubled.
Pundits like to call the Tennessee Three new "Rock Stars." That term is apt. So, by the way, is the inclusion of a 60 year old ex-school teacher Gloria Johnson under that designation. Bernie Sanders long ago proved that there is room for some revered elders in the ranks of the leaders of a new generation of voters. But "Rock Star" has always been a term associated with youth. The fact that young elected leaders can be called "Rock Stars" signals a pivotal shift in attitudes toward electoral politics among American youth. It's no longer just nerds who take part in electoral politics. It is a principled calling that increasingly resonates among the young, and that is terrible news for Republicans, because Republicans do not.
Republicans wanted nothing more than for youth to remain apolitical. And if they insisted on becoming political, Republicans wanted them confined to the streets doing protests, the wilder the better, not inside voting booths, and certainly not seated within the Halls of Power. By elevating Justin Pearson and Justin Jones to national prominence, they did more than just elevate two remarkable young men, they elevated the importance of local politics itself with one searing stroke of political malfeasance. In high schools and colleges across the land, these two men are indeed poised now to become "Rock Stars", and where they lead millions will follow.
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It was way past due!!!
Great post, Rinaldo!
