Congressman Jerry Nadler has announced that he won't seek re-election to Congress next year, citing the need for generational change in the Democratic Party.
We cats won't quibble with this. Our view is that we have such a deep bench that we might as well move things along. (There have already been rumors about Chelsea Clinton and Jack Schlossberg running for Nadler's seat.) Nadler's exit will probably also open a path for Jamie Raskin to serve as Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee — and after 2026, we hope, Chairman.
Not all "seasoned" members of our party need to follow Nadler's example, but you have to wonder if 88-year-old Eleanor Holmes Norton or 87-year-old Maxine Waters might consider it. We love them both, but neither of their seats would be at risk if they decide to retire. And as long as we're on the subject, 77-year-old Governor Janet Mills of Maine should absolutely not run for the Senate against Susan Collins.
Not just because Mills would be in her mid-eighties at the end of her first term. We like her, but we already have some bang-up candidates — one of whom, oyster farmer Graham Platner, drew a crowd of almost 7,000 in Portland on Labor Day. His speech was brutal on Collins: "Symbolic opposition does not open hospitals. Weak condemnations do not bring back Roe v. Wade. Performative politics that enables the destruction of our way of life is disqualifying for the role of US Senator."
(Platner's not our only declared candidate. Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban's hat is also in the ring. So, an oyster guy or a beer guy? Sounds delicious, and very Maine-y.)
We like feisty. For us, it's a throwback to 2003, when Democrats were flat on their butts against the Republicans after 9/11 and the 2002 midterms. But then Governor Howard Dean started giving Bush and Cheney hell. Any Democrat today who follows that path — Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, AOC, Kathy Hochul, Wes Moore, Zohran Mamdani, the Texas legislators, our state attorneys general, Letitia James, Jasmine Crockett — gets Dean-inspired kudos from us. We cats PURR.
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