In 2003 hardly anyone outside of Illinois knew a state senator named Barack Obama.
Five years later he is the nominee for President of the Democratic Party.
What this shows is that there clearly is talent all over the United States (while I’m not saying there is an Obama in every state). The question simply is if they can make it out of the political wilderness into the limelight.
What I’m wondering is who comes after Obama? Who is the future of the Democratic Party? Now, this is not necessarily about who might become a future president but rather who has the ability to work hard and inspire people and make it into a leadership position in the future. Whether that is as governor, in the U.S. Senate or any other leadership position.
So, here’s my question to you: who is the future of the Democratic Party? Which young person (younger than Obama who was born in 1961), male or female, white, African-American, Asian-American or Hispanic, straight or gay, inspires you? Now, that person may have already made it to Congress, or have been elected to statewide office. But it’s just as likely that person is in the state legislature, the state cabinet or an elected official at the local level (mayor or county commissioner) or currently running for an office.
Which young Democrat in your state inspires you and whom do you wish/hope to rise and aim higher? And please provide year of birth and a bio link to that person if you can.
Cross posted from My Silver State.
He’s a fantastic congressmen and I look forward to him being the mayor of New York after Bloomberg.
The Montana Governor has the personality and the expertise to keep this country on a progressive track for years to come. He has a large-scale vision regarding energy independence, the environment, and foreign policy, and is well aware of the degree to which those issues are interrelated. Obama’s team would be wise to tap him as VP, and build the potential for 16 years of Democratic leadership.
Schweitzer is 53, and is therefore a viable presidential candidate in 2016.
Especially:
Kirsten Gillibrand, (b. 1966), NY-20. Very charismatic, and genuinely nice in person. Not sure she’d go statewide though.
Patrick Muprhy, (b. 1973), PA-08. Telegenic, Iraq War veteran with a compelling story. Possibly a contender for Specter’s Senate seat in 2010.
Others include Chris Murphy, (b. 1973), CT-05 and Gabby Giffords, (b. 1970), AZ-08, both of whom could easily go statewide in a cycle or two.
She was elected Florida CFO in 2006. Alex is incredibly overqualified for that job having formerly been president of Bank of America. Her hubband is Bill McBride, who ran against Jeb for Governor in 2002 and lost.
Alex has a very bright future in state politics if she wants it. I hope she challenges Mel Martinez in 2010.
In Oklahoma, Andrew Rice will not get elected to the senate this year but he will set himself up for a future in Congress. In Oregon, Mary Brown is about to be elected SEc. of State and her career is likely to continue an upward trajectory.
I can guarantee you that state Sen. Ralph Northam will be governor one day. He’s pretty much the perfect candidate — a pediatric neurologist and Army veteran with roots on the rural Eastern Shore of Virginia. His first campaign was for the state senate last year, in which he defeated the incumbent senator by 9 points.
I can see another freshman state legislator, Del. Joe Bouchard, as a good candidate for Congress down the road. He’s also retired military: the former commander of Norfolk Naval Station, which would play well in military-heavy VA-02.
The Ohio Secretary of State could be a top Senate contender in 2010, for the open seat (if Voiney makes good on his promise to retire,) or perhaps against Voiney himself if he doesn’t. Brunner is fairly charismatic on the stump– not a jaw-dropper, but certainly good. If she makes it into the Senate, I would not be surprised to see her in the VP slot on our 2016 ticket.
Roy Cooper may be four years older than Obama, but I think he has a great future. Don’t be surprised if he goes after Burr’s sure thing Senate seat in 2010.
Pardon me for seeming like I’m plugging for Rothfuss (I’m not related to his campaign in any way; I just really like the candidate), but yeah…
So I showed my mom the speech he made at the WY Democratic Convention (see http://www.youtube.com/profile… for videos–he makes a fun joke involving searching for keys beneath a streetlight), and she remarked that this guy is president material. I gotta admit too, he does make quite a good speaker. Just kinda wordy on his website, that’s all.
I’m also gonna throw in my two-cent opinion agreeing with people above about Gabrielle Giffords. I’d start naming a bunch of other House members, but I don’t think
I also think Mark Warner may very well be working his way up to a presidential bid at some point in his future.
Also, Hillary Clinton isn’t finished with politics at all–I can totally see her working in Obama’s cabinet, and possibly even pursuing a presidential run after Obama’s (hopefully) second term. Though that might be quite a while down the road…2016…my friend and I joked that we could run for president in 2020, heck!
There’s also this young upstart Republican whom people here have mentioned recently, whom I think might get somewhere with politics in the future. He’s that sheriff or ADA guy from people’s talk about NY-13…Don something? I think I foresee that guy getting somewhere.
My current obsession has been MI-07, obviously, but even if it weren’t, I think that Mark Schauer has a lot of potential. He’s fairly progressive, can run and win in lean-Republican areas, and has served well in the leadership of the state Senate. There was some discussion in the Michigan blogosphere of him running for governor in 2010, and I think that if the Democrats had taken control of the state Senate in 2006, that’s exactly what he’d be doing.
Instead, he’s running for Congress this year, and has a strong chance of beating Tim Walberg. Six years from now, there’s a chance Senator Levin will retire (he’ll be 79 in 2014, and he’s already the longest-serving senator in Michigan history), and if he does, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Schauer take the Senate seat.
Assuming that happens, Schauer will be 52 when he enters the US Senate. While he might not run for president, that’s plenty of time for him to develop a strong record in the Senate. He’s ambitious and talented, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up in some leadership role or in a Democratic administration someday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M…
He’s a Persian Gulf war vet and astronaut.
Ohio state legislative districts are drawn by a 5-member committee and Brunner, as Secretary of State, is the 3rd Democrat on that committee.
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin. And since we’re supposed to be talking about the future of the party, just a few weeks ago, there was a piece in the New York Times which mentioned her as a possible future Presidential candidate, citing her “inspirational speaking style that some compare to Mr. Obama’s”.
Cory Booker. Newark Mayor. Rhodes Scholar. Just 39.
Darcy Burner. Yes she lost her initial run for Congress but so did Obama. Only 37 and her Responsible Plan sets her up as a real leader.
Ash Madia. The youngest in this group at 30. Minnesota has launched Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Paul Wellstone.
Karen Bass, born in 1953, is the new Speaker of the California State Assembly, and the first African-American woman to hold the position. (We’ve had females and African-Americans as Speaker before, but not an African-American female.)
This is her official website.
Who knows what she’ll do in the future, but since we have term limits here in California, she can only serve in the Assembly for a few more years. Though she is older than Obama by a few years, but I’d think she still has a good future in front of her. No need to retire at the age of 65 anymore. 🙂
I'd like to expand on the original question to include the Republicans as well. Judging from what we've seen so far, the Republican brand is in absolute disarray and has lost all credibility with Americans. John McCain might as well run as an Independent to give himself a fighting chance against this fall's Obama Tsunami. So I'm going to list who I think are the futures of both parties, because I think it's only fair we consider all options. Also, I don't think they would have to be younger than Obama to be considered as the future, although most of them are.
Democrats:
Janet Napolitano, Brian Schweitzer, Bill Ritter:
I did a paper on Democrats' revival in the Mountain West awhile ago back in college. I really think that that part of the country has some extremely strong talent that's not being put to their fullest potential. Napolitano, Schweitzer, or Ritter all have the potential to be future senators or Vice Presidents, as well as Presidential contenders.
David Paterson, Deval Patrick, Corey Booker:
These three obviously follow in the mold of Obama. Young, African American politicians of the post-Civil Rights era who have risen up through the system. Patrick may have some work cut out for him to remain a viable commodity, while Paterson and Booker currently hold strong approval ratings.
On a side note, I did once consider Eliot Spitzer as a potential Presidential contender in 2012 or 2016; he would have been the first Jewish President. Unfortunately, he chose to exorcise his lustful demons through his penis and his career and integrity is now in shambles. Sad.
Republicans:
Bobby Jindal, Charlie Crist:
Jindal is like Obama. His very existence as first Indo-American governor of any U.S state is right up there with Obama's historic candidacy. Crist has been a pretty solid governor and is considered to be moderate inside his home state. These guys seriously need to get back to their actual jobs instead of fanning the flames of VP aspirations. IT AIN'T HAPPENING, GUYS. MCCAIN'S NOT STUPID!
Paul Ryan (R-WI), Jeff Flake (R-AZ):
Why do I include these guys? This article should explain it somewhat.
My point is, while the Democrats' future is bright and full of possibilities, the GOP really needs to rediscover their future. Do they continue to be this right wing fringe, or do they return to their moderate roots from 30 years ago that actually made them a successful party?
He’s about six months older than Obama, but he’s definitely somebody I’d like to see on a national ticket.
And not just to watch desperate Republican attempts to smear him with the “cocaine and hookers” comment he made. Vote Wexler! It’s a fun thing to do!