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Dems on defense after GOP success

Party rethinks strategy to reach midterm voters

By: Savannah Kuchar
USA Today

..... Coming off a brutal bruising in the 2024 election, Democrats in Washington are poised to play defense for much of the next two years against President elect Donald Trump and the resurgent GOP.
..... But before they can try to counter a Republican trifecta, Democrats have an important question to answer: Who's in charge?
..... The leader of the Democratic Party, President Joe Biden will leave the White House in January, [2025] and Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to be largely sidelined after her 2024 defeat.
..... On Capitol Hill, both of the party's leaders will be in the minority and have limited power to stop the Trump agenda. As Democrats face a leadership vacuum, lawmakers and organizers told USA Today they will find a path forward and have colleagues ready to step up.
..... "We're got to figure out what went wrong," said Jim Manley, a longtime Democratic strategist and former aide to one-time Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
..... " But in the meantime, we don't have a leader. We've got a lot of people that contribute to the debate."
..... "It's going to be really important to give the next generation of leaders a bigger microphone, because I think we've seen the last generation just can't cut it," added Amanda Litman, a former Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton presidential campaign staffer and now the co-founder and executive director of Run for Something, a progressive organization recruiting and supporting young candidates.

Who are the Democratic stars?

..... Who are the rising Democratic stars set to go toe with their Republican colleagues and the Trump administration - at least until the 2026 midterms and the start of the 2028 presidential campaign?
..... The party at large has a rank of prominent figures, including governors like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gavin Newsom of California, as well as Biden administration officials such as outgoing Secretary of Transpiration Pete Buttigieg. All are considered potential candidates to run for the White House in another four years when Trump's term expires.
..... In the halls of Congress, several Democratic lawmakers have made a name for themselves - or promise to.
..... elections for the 119th Congress saw a number of history-makers Representative Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, while Representativity Lisa Blunt Rochestre, D-Delaware, and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland will become their states' first Black senators. their wins mark the first time two Black women will serve in the upper chamber at the same time.
..... Sarah McBride, a Delaware state legislator, will also be sworn into the house next year, [2025] the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress.
..... Still, it;s not all new members set to lead the Democrats. Other figures, include returning representatives and existing leadership, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, are in play.
..... But these leaders, and their fellow Democrats, won't just try to block the Trump administration. Senator Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, said he thinks Democrats have a "great caucus," but when it comes to legislating, they'll proceeded "issue by issue."
..... "I don't see it as Democrats versus Republicans," Booker, a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and close fiend of Harris, told USA Today. "I see it as getting on the right side of issues, which Democrats have a track record for doing."
..... Representative Shir Thanedar, D-Michigan, who represents parts of Detroit and the surrounding area, agreed that the parties will still be able to find some common ground.
..... "There is plenty of opportunities to collaborate," Thanedar said. "There's a time to fight, and there's a time to work together. ... There will be plenty of opportunities to do both."

A moment for the younger crowd

..... This is a time in particular for Democrats' young leaders to step up to the plate, Litman said.
..... "I think it's going to be chance for some of them to show what fighting back looks like," she said.
..... Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, has already emerged as a de facto leader for the party's younger and more progressive wing. with her is fellow millennial Representative Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who is known for going head to head with Republicans like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.
..... Representative Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, was elected in 2022 as the first Gen Z member of Congress, and he made headlines by driving for Uber to make ends meet during his campaign. He returns next year for a second term and the chance to grow his national profile.

..... Contributing: Sudiskha Kochi, USA Today.

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