Who is the new leader of the Democratic Party?
That’s a question we’ve been asking quite frequently on “Rising” — because it’s clear the Democratic Party’s base is really unhappy with leadership, and it’s also clear that President Trump and the Republicans feel like they face very little meaningful opposition right now, and can just do whatever they want.
Well, I don’t know if the subject of this Radar is going to be the leader of the Democratic Party, but she’s certainly an up-and-coming person of notability. But is she really ready for primetime? I’m talking, of course, about Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, a fiery progressive who has attracted significant media attention in the last six months — and is also the subject of a new profile in “The Atlantic” magazine. “The Atlantic’s” Elaine Godfrey interviewed the congresswoman, and several of her colleagues.
What’s drawn the profile to my attention was the conversation about it on social media. It seems that Crockett apparently doesn’t quite understand how journalism works? Because in the profile, there’s the following passage:
“Crockett said that people are free to disagree with her communication style, but that she ‘was elected to speak up for the people that I represent.’ As for her colleagues, four days before this story was published, Crockett called me to express frustration that I had reached out to so many House members without telling her first. She was, she told me, ‘shutting down the profile and revoking all permissions.’”
That’s funny, because you can’t do that. Sorry. This is like one of the most basic rules of dealing with journalists, but once you’ve spoken to them on the record, you don’t own the story, they do. You can’t stop them from covering you because you don’t like that they reached out to other people.
As NBC’s Sahil Kapur put it, “That is not how any of this works.”
But don’t try to tell Jasmine Crockett that she doesn’t understand how any of this works. She is bursting with self-confidence, according to this profile. In fact, she seems pretty unhappy that she was passed over for a top leadership position: chair of the House Oversight Committee. The profile recounts her personal feelings of betrayal that her own caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, backed a different person.
You see, Crockett believes she is the most qualified person for the job because, and I quote, “There’s one clear person in the race that has the largest social-media following.” Generating attention, positive and also negative, is something she’s quite good at, obviously. Is it really the case that being provocative, spicy, contrarian, unfiltered, attention-seeking and, let’s be honest, fairly bombastic and occasionally offensive, the best set of attributes for Democratic leadership?
Who knows, maybe it is. Certainly the Democratic base wants leaders to fight the Republicans, if only in virtue-signaling sort of ways that have nothing to do with actual power and policy. At least Crockett is willing to do this, responding to a veiled insult from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during a hearing of the House Oversight Committee:
“I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling — if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s ‘bleach blonde bad built butch body,’ that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?”
Vote for Democrats, they want to turn Congress into “Real Housewives,” or some MTV reality show? I guess that’s the pitch.
But in an era in which excessive clout chasing has infected both our parties, and in which the leaders of both political factions have more interest in making memes and manufacturing media moments than they do in legislation, perhaps Jasmine Crockett is the leader the Democrats deserve. Just as Trump is the id of the right, she is the id of the left.
Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.
