But there was an unavoidable subtext to it, too. Back in 2020, Joe Biden waved away questions about his age by suggesting that he would be a bridge to a new generation of leadership — something that many in his party were agitating for. Before the midterms, this argument became a way for Democrats in contested races to speak out against both Biden and Pelosi: It wasn’t that they didn’t like the top Democrats, really, just that they wanted “a new generation.”
With Pelosi’s announcement this week, that generational shift is now in play. The Democrats likely to take over the top two positions in the House caucus are quite literally from a different generation than Pelosi, 82, and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), 83, who also announced that he wouldn’t seek to renew his position. The new generation is upon us.
