For the first time in a generation, a cohort of young lawmakers is injecting the Democratic caucus with a dose of populist dynamism it hasn’t seen since before the 1990s. But as figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez break with the compromised liberalism of the Clinton and Obama eras — ahead of a 2020 campaign cycle almost certain to involve a confrontation between a left-leaning base and a corporatist party establishment — an ossified old guard is still clinging to its shibboleths for dear life.

During a Sunday morning segment with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, West Wing and Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin had this to say when asked which Democrats he thought were performing well in the Trump era:

I like Kamala Harris a lot. I like Joe Biden a lot. I really like the new crop of young people who were just elected to Congress. They now need to stop acting like young people, ok? I think that there’s a great opportunity here, now more than ever, for Democrats to be the non-stupid party . . . that it’s not just about transgender bathrooms. That’s a Republican talking point they’re trying to distract you with. That we haven’t forgotten about the economic anxiety of the middle class, but we’re going to be smart about this — we’re not going to be mean about it.