The past decade of American politics has been less than visually appetizing. It resembles less of a functioning Democracy and more of a scene inside the world’s most chaotic nursing home. The generational gap between the office holders and voters are becoming increasingly concerning, and so is the sight of orthopedic shoes and government issued bifocals plaguing the Congress halls. The overall vibe? Drained and tired. But sometimes the political fatigue pendulum can force a swing into the other direction. Suddenly voters search for not just competence, but charisma. Voters ache for someone who represents the vitality of the country. That is when America enters the era that feels like democracy, and also a growing national crush. It happened with JFK, Barack Obama, Zohran Mamdani, and now Jack Schlossberg.
John “Jack” Schlossberg, the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is a Harvard and Yale graduate who is currently campaigning as a Democratic candidate for New York’s 12th Congressional District. His environmental advocacy, early experience in the senate, nepo baby credentials and the simple fact that he can use a smart phone efficiently, makes him the perfect person to be the internet’s newest hyperfixation. His recent campaign announcement felt like a cultural earthquake. The internet revived. “…We need some new energy to fight,” writes one user on Instagram under his campaign announcement post. Schlossberg represents something that Americans have been starving for, youth, vitality, charisma, and someone who looks like they had a vegetable in the last week. His presence could possibly mark the “Hot Politician Renaissance,” a shift towards leaders who seem prepared to govern the country how it is, and not how it used to be. It isn’t just the fact that he’s young and inherited the Kennedy looks and charm, it’s that he feels current. Awake. Someone who seems ready to signal a generational shift in politics.
Along with Schlossberg, New York City’s newest Mayor-elect Mamdani reflects the American voters’ hunger for what contemporary leadership in America could and should look like. Someone who can speak in complete sentences, understands the issues of the present day, and carries the energy of a politician that lives in the same timeline as the rest of the country. Mamdani and Schlossberg’s growing influence and visibility suggests something that American politics haven’t seen in a while, a glimmer of generational alignment. Leaders who don’t represent our grandparents. Leaders who will live long enough to see the effect of their policies and to see the change they seek to fight for Americans.
It’s worth noting that women have been carrying this notion for ages. Women in politics have been plagued by the expectation of charisma, articulation, being culturally attuned and camera ready at all times while governing under a critical microscope of their male colleagues and constituents. Figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Jasmine Crockett have undergone the pressure of oratorical sharpness, digital relevancy, and meeting aesthetic and emotional demands that are imposed on women relentlessly in the public and political arena. The sudden excitement for younger male politicians does not signal something entirely revolutionary, it just means that the public discovered that men too can and should be held to the same unattainable cocktail of competence, sharp charisma, and expectations that women in politics have been juggling for ages.
In the end, this growing interest in hot politicians is not just about superficiality. Although attractive politicians make great gossip for daytime TV, voters are really just eager to engage in the search for leaders who feel in tune to the world we live in. It is less about glamour and TikTok thirst edits and more about yearning for leaders who live in the same cultural reality as their voters. A youthful candidate becomes less of an object of desire, but a symbol of a leader who can envision the future as something they can walk into alongside their constituents. They should be the lived representations and mirrors of the constituents they represent, shaped by the same uncertainties and pressures of contemporary life. The Hot Politician Renaissance signals a turn towards leadership grounded in the tensions and tempo of the world that their voters have to live through every day. After all, they should not just look like the future, but be shaped by it.