General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I was a big fan, but Ocasio-Cortez is starting to get on my nerves. [View all]H2O Man
(73,537 posts)I suppose that my advanced age plays a role in that. She reminds me of some of my favorite Democrats from decades past. She is both charismatic, and well-organized. This includes promoting a working-class platform that is "socialist" in the same manner as FDR. She brings the same excitement as Robert Kennedy did in 1968. And she is thus as in-welcome to some of the party's leaders as Jesse Jackson was in 1984 and '88.
I do not expect that her decisions are going to be exactly the same as mine might be. It would be odd, I suppose, if a 28-year old woman saw the world exactly the same as this old man. But on important issues, there is much common ground. Indeed, what I admire the most is her passion to bring this country to higher ground. And to get to that higher ground, I understand that there are going to be differences in tactics that people use, and that some will be uncomfortable with some of those tactics.
An intelligent person is going to think differently at age 28 than they will at, say, age 56 ....or they will have wasted half of their life. Yet this is no reason to oppose 28-year olds, or only support 56-year olds. The Democratic Party needs to be inclusive enough to attract both candidates and voters from a wide range of common interests. The failure to do so is evident in the republican majorities in Congress., despite the fact that republicans are a minority.