Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times, himself a big friend of Social Security, has a column out bemoaning John Larson’s defeat in the primary race to continue representing his Connecticut district in the House of Representatives. Larson has been the Chairman and now Ranking Member of the House Social Security Subcommittee. There is much to admire in Larson’s career. He has certainly been a huge friend to Social Security. However, while there are strong explanations, Larson has been quite ineffective in passing Social Security legislation.
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John B. Larson has been asleep at the wheel for a long time. Thanks for your service but we need fighters in Congress.
Larson is the case study for generational change. He did not lose because he fought for Social Security. He lost because Democratic voters increasingly distinguish between fighting for something and actually getting it done. His Social Security proposals built a loyal constituency but never the bipartisan governing coalition needed to survive divided government. At home, meanwhile, a changing electorate became less impressed by seniority and more impatient with a political culture that continually promised action next year. Younger Democrats have watched the extraordinary speed with which the Trump administration has exercised power and drawn their own lesson: government can move quickly when its leaders decide that it should. Larson's defeat was therefore less a repudiation of his causes than a demand for urgency. That isn't democracy failing. It is democracy renewing itself.
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