Which Democrat will emerge as party’s next leader?

Who is the Democratic version of Ron DeSantis?

At 43, the Florida governor has already established himself as a major candidate to lead the Republican Party once former President Donald Trump, now 76, leaves the scene. Democrats have no comparable figure poised to succeed President Joe Biden, who is three years older than Trump and clearly showing signs of advanced age.

The question of who comes after Biden is being asked more loudly and more often, even by Democrats who supported the president two years ago. Biden insists he will run for a second term, when he’ll be 81. But in a stunning New York Times/Siena poll, 64% of Democrats said they would prefer a different candidate heading the ticket in 2024, with only 26% favoring another Biden run. The cause of their concern, bordering on panic, can be summed up in two numbers. The first is 37, Biden’s average approval rating, his lowest score ever. The second number is 18, the percentage of Americans who say the country is headed in the right direction, while 3 out of 4 express pessimism about the future.

But who else can “take the fight” to Trump or his successor?

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran and lost twice and threatens to run again, is already 80. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is 73. Vice President Kamala Harris is 57 byt has underwhelmed Democrats with her campaigning and executive skills. Transportation

Secretary Pete Buttigieg is 40, but the only political district he’s ever run is South Bend, Ind..

Two governors are raising their national profiles and hoping to fill what could be called the party’s “DeSantis Gap,” but both face obstacles. California’s Gavin Newsom, 54, gained attention with a clever ad on Florida TV stations lacerating DeSantis.

Newsom, however, faced a recall election last year, with critics complaining of high taxes, chronic homelessness and declining quality of life. He survived, but in 2020 alone, almost 650,000 residents left California, hardly an advertisement for the governor’s competence.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 57, drew praise after shootings in Highland Park by proclaiming his angerg with palpable passion. Pritzker received a standing ovation when he addressed a meeting of New Hampshire Democrats in June.

Still, Pritzker has to run for reelection this fall and remains untested on the national stage. He belongs to one of the country’s wealthiest families, hardly a Joe-From-Scranton type.

Youth is not the only admirable asset in a potential president. Biden showed that only two years ago, as did Ronald Reagan, our oldest president before our current one. But American politics is about the future, not the past, and younger candidates, energetic and hopeful, can express and embody that essential idea more convincingly than older rivals.

Between 1960 and 2012, Americans elected five Democratic presidents with an average age of just under 49. President

John F. Kennedy captured their common message in his famous inaugural address when he intoned, “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” He meant the generation that had fought World War II, but each of the others represented in their own way a new beginning, a fresh start.

Lyndon Johnson offered a “Great Society” that pioneered civil rights and Medicare. Jimmy Carter promised truth after the lies of Watergate. Bill Clinton, the first baby boomer president, campaigned as “The Man From Hope.” Obama became the first Black president by running on a platform of hope and change.

As Democrats try to move past the Biden years, they have to ask who, or what, comes next. So far they don’t have an answer.