Revolutionary Nepotism

Viral videos are out, Boomers handing seats off to Gen X kids is back in

It can be hard to keep track of where the progressive zeitgeist lands on any particular day. So we made a cheat sheet for the AZ-07 primary:

LAST WEEK

• Nepotism is bad: Say no to legacy candidates

• Old Democrats in safe seats should retire: Or face primary challenges

• Viral videos are a requirement: “get online or retire”

• Deja Foxx is “the next AOC”: Will lead to a “Mamdani Style Shock”

THIS WEEK

Poor New York Times columnist Patrick Healey seemed to internalize what the online left was saying last week, and noted that the AZ-07 special election primary result was the opposite narrative:

77-year-old Rep. Raul Grijalva ran for re-election after his cancer diagnosis last spring, easily winning this safe Democratic seat. He sadly passed away early this session, leaving an open seat and triggering a special election in which his 54-year-old daughter Adelina was the frontrunner.

Healey mistook weeks of anti-nepotism and anti-gerontocracy calls as consistent principles.

But high-profile leftists were quick to attack Healey, noting that most of the institutional left - including AOC and Bernie - supported the family handoff.

Healey was mercilessly mocked by top leftist pundits, Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager, AOC’s chief of staff, the founder of Run For Something and a parade of progressive insiders.

He forgot: many progressives treat things like nepotism, viral videos, and the urgency to replace old incumbents with young outsiders as attack lines against centrists, not steady values.

Revolutionary nepotism is the new fad, consider yourself up to date!