Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, and the two other top Democrats must step down for the good of their party, according to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank.
Pelosi will soon be 77, while her deputy Steny Hoyer will be 78, and the third-highest ranking Democrat, Jim Clyburn, will be 77. "Their current ages, if combined, would date back to 1787, the year George Washington presided over the signing of the Constitution. It is time for them to go," Milbank wrote.
Milbank said his comment was not a knock on their accomplishments, including Pelosi's status as the first woman to be House speaker.
However, Milbank said that Democrats need fresh blood to take on incoming president Donald Trump, and the party is not likely to have a chance to take over the House of Representatives until 2022, after the 2020 census leads to redrawing district lines that have benefited the GOP.
Pelosi presided over a party that did not gain the youth vote in the numbers that they required to win, and unsuccessfully tied their opponents to Trump, according to Milbank. Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn come from an earlier generation and are all "passionately ideological and unyielding," he said.
Ohio Sen. Tim Ryan has challenged Pelosi, and Milbank said, "He is doing Democrats a favor by forcing them to think about the desirability of keeping their septuagenarian leaders in place."
The Post writer said that Ryan has some drawbacks, including only passing three bills in 14 years in the House. His advantages include tapping into the populist message that Democrats lacked, according to Milbank.
Ryan said that blue-collar voters who supported Trump "are the guys I drink beer with. These are my buddies I watch football with. I don't need to run a focus group."
Democrats must focus on economics, Ryan said: "Get rid of the perception that we're tied to Wall Street, that we're coastal elites and that we'r emore concerned with the donor class than the working class."
The Atlantic discussed Pelosi, saying that she is working to shore up support for her among younger Democrats who were not in office the last time the Democrats held the majority in 2006.
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