I do not feel particularly sad that Congresswoman Dianne DeGette lost her bid to represent the people of Denver in Washington. For many years, she, like many members of Congress who are “long in the tooth”, was no more than a fixture that didn’t seem to quite know why she ran for office in the first place, three decades ago. And we, this nation of voters, became used to a familiar face on our televisions, feeling that all was well. Suffering from somnambulism, we pulled our customary electoral levers each two years.  

But the usual was interrupted in this primary season for Colorado’s 1st Congressional district. A new face, a new shrill voice brought our old ordinary torpor to a screeching end. Awake now, for me at least, I am paying attention to Melat Kiros, the young lawyer who calls herself a Democratic Socialist. Old DeGette voters may not have taken the young woman seriously. In fact, neither did DeGette think she might lose to someone who was born four months after she first took office.  

As Kiros shouted her victorious declarations surrounded by young supporters, DeGette’s election headquarters was deserted. Some call her a sore loser. Clearly after 15 election cycles, the idea of losing  to an inexperienced youth was beyond her ken. In reality, the rarity of such defeats give veteran politicians their sense of comfort. Frequent defeats at the ballot box should be more common; the ground on which democracy grows should be frequently turned over to allow its refreshing aeration. DeGette’s three decades in Congress paint a neutral figure that easily perambulated between her Denver and DC homes. 

Like everyone else, I didn’t know much about Kiros before her primary victory. Apparently she was fired by a law firm she worked for after refusing to retract something she’d written about Palestinian rights. Shouldn’t her former employers, lawyers I presume, have been the first to defend her 1St Amendment rights? This incident may eventually be viewed as the catalyst that propelled Kiros to take a more active political stand. So many decisive decisions can be related to a moment’s action in the lives of great women and men. 

On a personal note, I am pleased that the voice of another member of the African diaspora in our midst has risen above the common din with her distinctive voice and political philosophy that have drawn many to support her.  

Presuming  that Kiros replaces DeGette in Congress, she will be but one of 435 voices. Will her and the voices of other progressives, be heard more clearly? If the congressional majority is Democratic, the tenor and the work of the House will pick up tempo; there may then be more legislation compared to the current Republican majority House.  

The question is of course what kind of a legislative agenda does Melat Kiros plan to advance?  

I would disabuse our president and his followers to the fact that this and other Democratic socialists will do anything resembling a communist agenda. Sadly, Trump — whose mentor was Roy Cohn, Joseph McCarthy’s lawyer  and notorious lawyer for the Mafia — sees communism in everyone he disagrees with and everything he doesn’t like.  

The things that seem to animate Melat Kiros are what many of us have advocated and worked for decades. The most important being universal healthcare — which I and many current members of the medical establishment agree with. To her, she says, socialism is about making it clear that we have basic needs. I cannot argue with that. She’s talking about ending military aid to Israel, abolishing ICE, and supporting the green deal. And a national moratorium on data centers. 

American engagement with Israel has become a lightning rod for many youth who on watching Netanyahu’s IDF sow destruction across Lebanon and Gaza feel great repugnance.   How did a nation built as a result of  incredible violence visited to its members become the Israel the world sees today? They wonder. That’s what animates Melat Kiros, other progressives as well as the likes of Rahm Emanuel.  

As I absorb the passion carried in speeches and persons of emerging young politicians, I’m glad they are tomorrow’s serious guardians. We were young once when we wished the old would just move over. But we didn’t do a great job protecting this Earth. I pray this green dot in the immense darkness of space is better served by this younger generation. 

Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students’ STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, “Never Again.”