Democrats Got It Wrong By Denying AOC Top Oversight Committee Post

House Democrats had a chance to choose a new and younger direction by electing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee instead they rejected change.

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House Democrats have made some encouraging moves. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) replaced Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Other younger Democrats are steadily moving up the ranks. It seemed like the party might finally be preparing for the next phase of moving on from the Pelosi/Obama/Biden era.

One of the biggest moves was thought to be that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was expected to defeat Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Even though the Democratic steering committee supported Connolly, the entire vote of the Democratic caucus was thought to be more favorable to Ocasio-Cortez.

That’s not what happened.

Connolly won the vote 131-84. Nancy Pelosi endorsed Connolly who was one of the few older Democrats to survive and keep a top committee seat.

None of this reflects on the quality of Rep. Connolly’s work. He is a vigorous and talented representative, but he is also 74 years old and currently battling cancer.

Gerry's a young 74, cancer notwithstanding," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).

A young 74? Only in Congress can a 74 year-old with cancer be considered young.

This isn’t a criticism of people in the 70s and older. Many people lead extraordinary and energetic lives as they age, but there is an important political message being sent to rank-and-file Democrats that the people at the top of the party seem to be completely clueless about.

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