Easy Sunday: A look back, a look forward

It is Easy Sunday. Relax. Let's take a moment to open our minds to new possibilities.

I wrote in August, 2019:

"I asked Seth Moulton what he was doing in the race. He said he plans to be president. 

'Watch for me in eight years,' he said."

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Moulton in Iowa, 2019

Readers may have heard of Seth Moulton. He gained national exposure when The New York Times reported on an interview with him: 

"Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” said Moulton.  “I have two little girls,” he continued. “I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”

He got the criticism that is an essential pathway to becoming a national leader.  A top aide quit. Local Democrats protested, including the Bay State Stonewall Democrats who represent the LGBTQ community; their leader said Moulton was "100% wrong." No one remembers praise by friends. People do believe a politician is authentic when someone on one's own team criticizes. We look to see if he caves, or if he defends his view. Steel sharpens steel. A leader emerges by saying things that change opinions within one's group. 

Moulton was a three-term representative from Massachusetts when I wrote about him in 2019, in a post titled Seth Moulton is well positioned to defeat Trump. Now it is five terms. He graduated from Harvard College. He served four tours in Afghanistan as a Marine officer. He was awarded a Bronze Star, and left service with the rank of captain. He has a dual Masters from Harvard Business School and its JFK School.

He fits the "manliness" test that Republicans are throwing at Democrats. He looks solid and square-jawed. He broke into national consciousness by taking the role of "protecting females," the archetype role of males.

I wrote six years ago that Moulton would not be the nominee. The scrum of candidates was huge, and Moulton got lost in the crowd. I did say he had potential:

Moulton is Biden, only better, without most of the things people don't like about Biden. Moulton is young, without the gaffes, without the vote for the war in Iraq, without the enemies built up over five decades. . . . He has policy positions that are in the sweet spot of Democratic and national popularity: liberal but not socialist, somewhere between that of Biden and Kamala Harris. He doesn't criticize wealth; he says we should celebrate success and work to be sure everyone has the opportunity to find it.

College classmates from Massachusetts told me then that Moulton had a bit of a "young man in a hurry," reputation and that he came across as too perfect in checking all the boxes to accelerate his presidential ambition. Biden saw to it that there could be no 2024 Iowa caucus or New Hampshire primary for Democrats. A 2028 election will be the eight years.

Is Moulton the next great Democratic leader? Time will tell. But readers should be aware of him. He is doing what candidates do. I get a newsletter update from him every week.

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