Good Riddance, Seth Moulton: You Got What You Deserved
In fact, it was an example of the scenario I feared. Early last year, some Democratic activists, furious about 2024, were arguing that any Democratic officeholder over age 70 should be replaced by someone younger. They’re wrong. What Democrats really need is not necessarily younger members, but ones who fight hard, both for progressive policies and against Donald Trump and MAGA. I want Bernie Sanders (84) and Elizabeth Warren (77) on Capitol Hill, but not Josh Gottheimer (51) or Jared Golden (44). A fixation on age could elevate ambitious climbers who stand for nothing but their personal ambitions over the fighters we need to make America a better democracy.
But at least in Massachusetts, the younger candidate couldn’t hoodwink voters into thinking that he stands for change or fight or vigor. After all, this is Seth Moulton. He so perfectly embodies the hold-power, do-nothing ethos that plagues Democratic politics that voters can easily discern. Despite serving in the House since 2015, he’s not been a prominent figure in fighting Trump. He didn’t propose anything particularly bold or creative during his brief 2020 presidential run. (You probably forgot that he ran.)
He likely only got on the radar of many Democrats in Massachusetts and nationally with his transgender comments. So when his campaign launched, progressive activists trashed him. “When people are talking about younger leadership stepping up, they’re talking about the Ayanna Pressleys, not the Seth Moultons,” Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality, a prominent LGBTQ+ rights group in Massachusetts, told NOTUS last fall.
