Rank and file GOP are cheering the departure of favorite boogeywoman and soon-to-be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  In the case of her likely replacement, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, they would do well to, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Widely seen as the front runner to take the Democratic reins, Jeffries would become the first African American, apart from former President Barack Obama, to lead one of the two major parties.  Despite his tangles with The Squad, the 52-year-old Brooklyn Democrat has earned the support of one its junior members, fellow New Yorker, Jamaal Bowman.  Bowman, who once called capitalism “slavery,” enthuses, “From the Hispanic caucus to the Progressive Caucus, to the Blue Dogs and the New Dems — Hakeem’s going to make sure everyone’s voices are part of the conversation.”

Democratic pundits hail Jeffries as a centrist bulwark.  In an interview with The Atlantic, last year, Jeffries vowed, “There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism.”  But despite his professed hostility to boutique radicals, Jeffries is an energetic practitioner of identity politics.  The former corporate lawyer routinely launches racial attacks across the aisle. Following the 2016 presidential election, Jeffries thundered on the House floor, “We do know that every racist in America voted for Donald Trump.” New boss younger than the old boss. The woke wars promise to rage on.