#AOC has a point on aging House leadership

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is right about one thing: It’s time for the House’s Democratic leadership to upgrade to a newer model.

In a podcast published Wednesday by The Intercept, AOC said it’s time for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team to pass the reins to younger leaders. Fair enough: She’s in her 80s, as are the No. 2 and 3 House Democrats.

Where the Bronx-Queens firebrand (31, incidentally) is off is in complaining that there are no clear successors thanks to a failure to groom younger leaders.

In fact, AOC’s fellow New Yorker, Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, is one likely next speaker as No. 4 in the leadership. He’s just 50 — but AOC would rather support a primary challenge to him than see him move up.

The fact is, it’s up to ambitious politicians to claw their own way up, building alliances and friendships with their peers. AOC just lost a vote to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee because she’d rather stab her colleagues in the back than work with them. They might want to ask Jeffries for some advice.