The Descent of Democratic Man

Why don’t the Democrats have better leaders?

We know why the Republicans don’t have better leaders: The GOP turned itself into a Donald Trump personality cult, and would-be alternatives such as Ron DeSantis of Florida haven’t figured out how to get out from under the considerable shadow of the former president. Republicans may find some focus if, as expected, they have a good election in November. William Munny might have made a good political analyst: “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

But you’d think the Democratic Party would at least throw up some interesting leaders, if not necessarily good ones. Young voters have soured on Joe Biden — for the obvious reason that the more future you have the more irritating it is when someone devalues it — but they still back Democrats decisively, as evidenced by their generic-congressional-ballot preferences. College-educated people, women, and the most-affluent communities all lean Democratic. Immigrants in Texas, California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey lean a lot more Democratic than Republican. Two of the political indicators you would think would go hand-in-hand with being a Democrat — not being especially proud of your country and enthusiasm for butchering unborn children — are at or near all-time highs.