It’s no secret that like Republicans, Democrats are having issues with each other. One huge fight that got real ugly real quick was newly installed DNC Vice-Chair David Hogg announcing a strategy with a fair amount of money to force out older Democratic elected representatives in DC. James Carville who himself has gotten pretty abrasive in his comments about the Party has been the most consistent prominent voice calling out Hogg as being full of you-know-what. However Hogg has been rubbing a lot of Democrats the wrong way and as of this evening it looks like his stint as a high ranking person in the Democratic National Committee is about to come to an inglorious end.
As the headline indicates this is a breaking story so look for more details tomorrow. For now we have some basics from Axios Sneak Peek that lays out what facts we know. The challenge is over a procedural matter but Hogg alleges, I suspect correctly it’s really over his connection to plans to spend $20 million to defeat older Democrats in primaries. That seems to overstep the traditional role of the DNC which should be ensuring free and fair primaries and NOT taking sides for or against specific candidates. It’s no wonder Hogg’s making a big deal out of doing just that has created backlash.
Regardless, some serious stuff is in motion and it doesn’t bode well for Hogg or the once promising future he seemed to have in Democratic Party politics:
The DNC’s credentials committee voted 13 to 2, with 3 abstentions, to void the February elections of Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs.
The resolution will proceed go to a full vote of DNC members. If it passes, the election for the two vice chair roles will be “re-administered.” In other words Hogg (and Kenyattat) will be out. Thrown under the bus.
This is sad and in more than one way. Hogg truly did have a bright future. But like other young people getting political “juice” he got too full of himself and started ripping on people with a whole lot more experience and knowledge. Worse, he did much of it publicly and blew off the initial backlash. I’m sure people close to him egged him on, while others close to him said “slow down dude.” Hogg made a bad choice.
I’m reminded of two rising stars in the Party. Joe Kennedy and AOC. Kennedy was only in his thirties when he delivered THE traditional opposing Party response to a State of the Union. It was epic and he reset the bar, and set it high for a gig that has killed many a politician’s career. It was easy then and for a while afterwards to imagine him becoming President in twenty years or so. But he got impatient, and greedy for huge success right away. He took on a longtime Senator in a primary and got his butt whipped. Ed Markey was old, but he still had game and was popular. So he beat a KENNEDY and in Massachusetts itself no less. And that was the end of Joe Kennedy’s political career.
AOC caught lightening in a bottle when she won a primary against an old-school and entrenched Democrat that seemed to have his seat sewn up for life. She became an instant star and her media savvy was breathtaking. She used it and mostly used it well but also became a lightening rod in the process. She basked in the notoriety to be sure but she also kept her head down where it mattered. She threw herself into learning the workings of the House and her committee work. Sure, she made her share of public appearances but she made sure to tend to her actual day job first. She still does.
I have little doubt AOC aspires to advance in the Democratic Party. Whether in House Leadership, or a move to the Senate down the road remains to be seen. However it sure looks to me like she’s fully aware she’s a lightening rod and can be more effective where she is and doing what she does. And in the process building relationships and favors to cash in at some point. She’s still young herself and has plenty of time.
Hogg decided to try and emulate the wrong role model. It’s sad for him when you think of what he might have someday accomplished. However the real tragedy is he was damned effective in the critical area of dealing with gun violence. He built a network (with friends) from scratch after Parkland and although not as visible in recent years it’s still there. Now? They will have to learn to make do without him because he’s likely to be toxic with the very Democratic politicians they will need to push meaningful gun reform.
Love makes people do stupid things. So does ego. Hogg’s ego grew out of control and for reasons I’ve outlined Democrats will be worse off in the long run. But Hogg did it to himself. Keep an eye out in the next few days because much as we Democrats like to talk about GOP infighting we’ve got our own mess to publicly deal with thanks to David Hogg. He COULD do the right and honorable thing and make a short public statement of resignation with an apology for stepping out of the well-established boundaries of the lofty position he’d been elected to. I don’t see that happening. But let’s hope someone manages to get through to him and make this into only a one day story.
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Carville and the DNC are just not tired of losing yet.
Fossils belong in the Smithsonian, not congress.
And Hogg is not wrong…just spoke at the wrong moment.
It’s not wrong to have careful (as in private) discussions at the highest levels about candidates and whether it’s time to encourage retirements. The situation with Senator Feinstein is a painful example of doing nothing. I am still furious with Pelosi over her political whacking of Biden with a meat cleaver but one thing I’ll give her credit for is bowing to pressure and preparing to hand over the reigns of leadership in the House. Too bad she couldn’t get her second in command to do the same for his role but the point is that sometimes people can be going strong right through their 80s or even longer. Sometimes you find people in their 60s who are so lame that they, as an old saying goes ‘need to get better just to die.’
These are almost always people who have had power and enjoyed the trappings of their office to a point where they think it’s their by god birthright. Even the quiet ones who don’t hold status as a committee chair/ranking member become entitled down to their DNA. Their egos can be just as huge as Presidential candidates! Getting them to step aside for new blood is no easy thing. However openly and with little or no warning just challenging them via primary will almost certainly cause them to dig in.
That’s what Hogg did. He had a worthy idea of working to get members who’d lost a step or two (or more) and were OLD in a time where it’s clear fresh faces are needed to revitalize the Party. He simply chose the worst possible way of trying to put his idea, which is shared by many into action. He was openly and publicly arrogant and both he and the Party will pay for it. The final tab for this fiasco is yet to be determined but it will be significant.
I read another summary on this too. While Hogg is right about the gerontocracy living in 1988, this process needs to happen.
The DNC has some pretty clear rules about representation of all groups and the election violates them. It sucks but it is what it is.
I like and respect David Hogg and I appreciate what he is trying to do.
Without enough knowledge about who might be disposable amongst the old-guard Dems, I suspect that David Hogg’s miscalculation on how to go about a bloodless coup might have been borne out of impatience as much as hubris. Announcing his intentions too publicly was a blunder but maybe he figured such noise would get things moving, stir things up and make folks do some thinking. And what’s the story on Kenyatta? Same crime?