There is a leadership vacuum in the Democratic Party

Tice has shrunk. Nancy Pelosi, at 84, is approaching the twilight of her long political career, And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries? More than 408 of Americans have no idea who he is, a recent Pew Research Center poll found, What Republicans need is a new boogey-man.

- Daniela Altimari, Tribune News Service

Gone are the days when the party could drag down Democratic opponents with pithy attack ads asserting they walked in lockstep with Pelosi, the former speaker, or were aligned with the squad, a bloc of House progressives who wielded influence before electoral losses thinned their ranks. But the lack of a clear Democratic villain isn’t just a challenge for Republican ad makers. It’s a sign of a leadership vacuum within the Democratic Party, which controls neither the House, the Senate, nor the White House. “This is a typical problem when a party badly loses an election,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who has worked on Senate and presidential campaigns. “There’s no obvious leader of the Democratic Party right now, which makes it hard to put a face on the opposition.”

For the past few years, that role was partly played by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the highest-profile member of the squad and one of the most recognizable stars on the left. At times, the ire against her has veered beyond standard opposition ads and into personal attacks.