Kennedy, O’Rourke and the rising Democratic stars of 2018

As the Trump administration suffers from the political equivalent of a nervous breakdown and an earthquake election is approaching in November, it is appropriate to consider the Democratic stars who are emerging to take the limelight in what will be known as “post-Trump America,” which may begin sooner than pundits think.

One of the leading lights for Democrats ready to seize the moment is Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), who is emerging as an important national leader with a political future that knows no limits.

{mosads}Kennedy embodies the ideals that Democrats stand for, the passionate conviction that, here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own, that a rising tide should lift ALL economic boats and the notion of patriotic citizenship in which individual Americans take action to make the country as a whole a better place.

On Sunday CNN will premiere a series about the Kennedys, which will no doubt consider the challenges and achievements of the Kennedy family and inspire many Americans to consider how wonderful it would be if the progressive values the Kennedys represent could once again take center stage in American political life.

In Texas, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) is surging in his campaign to defeat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and become the surprise Democratic superstar coming out of the midterm elections.

O’Rourke is one of the strongest Democratic candidates to run for statewide office in Texas since my former boss and mentor Lloyd Bentsen served brilliantly in the Senate and as secretary of the Treasury.

The odds that O’Rourke defeats Cruz are north of 40 percent and rising, in my view. The man known as Beto represents a politics of conviction for higher values and courage in refusing to bend to the lesser instincts of our times that have lowered the standards of far too many politicians in far too many places. 

Beto O’Rourke and a sterling cast of Texas Democratic candidates running for the House in 2018 have the potential to turn Texas purple in November. The trends in early voting before the Texas primaries suggest a stunning advantage for Democrats. 

With the rise of Kennedy and O’Rourke, it is possible to envision a Democratic future in which Massachusetts and Texas are united again on a Democratic presidential ticket, which worked out quite well in 1960!

Other rising Democratic stars who deserve attention are Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who stand for the common-sense progressivism of Democrats at their best.

Klobuchar, Harris and Brown — like Kennedy and O’Rourke — are voices for income equality, ending the corruption of dirty money in politics, the competent use of government to better the lives of our people and national security policies that defend America from the attack against democracy that is now coming from Russia and China.

Joe Kennedy, Beto O’Rourke and others like them are the next generation of rising-star Democrats who are emerging in response to the evils of the Trump years. They will shape the future of America and define the post-Trump era.

They are hard-working and highly principled leaders who can mobilize and inspire the vast and underestimated Democratic base, while reaching out to voters beyond that base.

Kennedy, O’Rourke, Klobuchar, Harris and Brown appeal to Americans who yearn for a politics far more noble, decent and inspiring than the sandal-ridden and suffocating swampland that Trump and Republicans offer a nation that hungers for big and uplifting change.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.