Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, who edged out New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) for a top Democratic post in December before stepping down, died from esophageal cancer on Wednesday, becoming the third Democrat to die in office this term.

The late congressman made headlines in December when, with support from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he defeated AOC to lead the House Oversight Committee, despite reportedly violating stock trading laws, according to Raw Story. AOC would have been the youngest Democrat to chair a House committee at 35 years old.

  • @[email protected]
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    133 months ago

    This is SO BAD! There’s only SO MANY OLD WHITE GUYS WITH CANCER the Democrats can Promote before GIVING UP and Conceding EVERY SINGLE ELECTION to the Republicans!

  • @[email protected]
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    253 months ago

    But guys, it was his turn! Just like Hillary in '16. Forget what the people want, we need to worry about stroking egos here.

  • @[email protected]
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    373 months ago

    The Democrats are like ancient kings who killed their children for fear of usurping their rule. Now the enemy is at the gates and they have no generals, the few champions they do have were cowed long ago.

    • @[email protected]
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      183 months ago

      Almost.

      Establishment democrats are still living great lives under trump. They’re not enemies because trump doesn’t fuck with their money, unlike Bernie.

      It’s the working class that has to suffer.

  • IninewCrow
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    1653 months ago

    Hilarious … the only way to beat the old Democratic party is to wait for them to die

      • @[email protected]
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        283 months ago

        Yeah, age isn’t so much the issue when we have decent older people like Bernie Sanders and younger douchebags like Josh Gottheimer running around, the problem is that newly elected Democratic party members have all been told that they need to vote for the people who have been in DC the longest and one day eventually it will be their turn

        That would be bad enough on its own, but coupled with the destruction of any kind of campaign finance regulations making it a lot easier for moderate Democratic party members to secretly work work with rich donors and Republicans to make sure progressives don’t stay in DC for long, we’ve ended up with a senior group of Democratic lawmakers who have shitty policies their voters hate and only know how to solve their problems through hippie punching

      • @[email protected]
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        103 months ago

        No, just most of them, including almost all of the ones with the most power.

        Name two people under 70 who’s amongst the 10 highest ranking in the party leadership.

        I’ll even give you Hakeem Jeffries for free so you only have to find one.

      • Cethin
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        33 months ago

        The problem isn’t that they’re old. The problem is that seniority trumps everything else. He was worse for the position, but he got it because he had seniority.

        He wasn’t bad because he was old, he was just worse and got it because he was old.

      • IninewCrow
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        233 months ago

        This is sounding more and more like a Lord of the Rings sequel every time

        • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost
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          63 months ago

          The gift humans had in LOTR is shorter lives, so new ideas can flourish, grow, and change between generations.

          Makes you really want that gift in 2025.

    • Bakkoda
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      83 months ago

      Are the good policy choices here in the room with us?

      /s

      • @[email protected]
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        153 months ago

        Even conservative think tanks agree, universal healthcare AT WORST would cover every American and cost the same as we are currently paying.

        So, we pay the same to not cover every American or we pay the same to cover every American. Which is the good policy choice?

        • @[email protected]
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          63 months ago

          A: The policy choice that continues to funnel money to politicians fundraising activities (and pockets).

      • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost
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        323 months ago

        They would be if the DNC didn’t stranglehold the idea of “let’s use taxes for good things instead of war”.

  • @[email protected]
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    323 months ago

    This is HORRIBLE! There’s only So Many OLD WHITE GUYS WITH CANCER we can Appoint to IMPORTANT ROLES before we have LITERALLY NO CHOICE but to Concede LITERALLY EVERY RACE to the Republicans!

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    1763 months ago

    Stole the house seat from AOC. Call me Gerry Atric.

    DNC death numer three. That’s a Gerry Hattrick.

    • @[email protected]
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      53 months ago

      I don’t know, guys. Hatshepsut has a proven track record of breaking political barriers for females, leading recovery from a foreign occupation into prosperity, and commanding prolific building projects including some masterpieces of ancient architecture: she delivers. What has AOC done? Dismissing all that accomplishment would be a mistake.

  • @[email protected]
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    193 months ago

    Stop waiting & hoping for DNC to do the right thing, create a new party. Democrats are just as corrupt as Republicans

  • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost
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    453 months ago

    So we’ll have someone with fresh ideas on how to stop Trump now, right?

    Who will below retirement age, and support major refreshment of polices and politicians, right?

    And actually do something this time, instead of thinking out loud and acting like that is the same thing as doing something, right?

    …Right?

  • @[email protected]
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    293 months ago

    Schumer, pelosi, Ginsburg, and all the other fossils who refuse to retire until they fucking die are just as responsible as the orange piece of shit is for the current state of amerikkka

    • Curious Canid
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      203 months ago

      No, they are not. False equivalence just takes the focus off the people who really are responsible. Trump, his enablers, and his supporters created this disaster.

      A lot of useless Democrats failed to stand up and try to stop it. They have much to answer for, but they are in a different category.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        It was a system of checks and balances, but the Democrats went along with consolidating power. So while yes, they aren’t the direct cause, they were the adults in the room and they failed in that responsibility.