America prevailed, again. For the second time this year, a member of the disgraced Kennedy dynasty lost a congressional election. Just over two months since Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D., Mass.) made history by becoming the first Kennedy ever to lose an election in the state of Massachusetts, Amy Kennedy lost her bid for Congress in New Jersey.
Amy, who is married to former representative Patrick Kennedy (D., R.I.), son of the late sexual predator Ted Kennedy, lost to incumbent Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), a former Democrat who became a Republican after publicly opposing his party's efforts to impeach Donald Trump.
As a result, the 117th Congress will include no Kennedys, a sign of a mature nation choosing progress over progeny. The country is moving forward, but some Democrats are still stuck in the past. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), who will turn 81 in March, is one of them.
"I think Joe Biden has a big mandate," Pelosi told reporters on Friday. "A bigger mandate than John F. Kennedy when I was in school." Biden does not, in fact, have a big mandate thanks to the woeful performance of Democrats in down-ballot races, especially in the House, where Pelosi could be at risk of losing her job.