From political heroines to villains, then victims

THE four freshmen minority Democratic lawmakers in the news this week were first celebrated as symbols of the political future of the Democratic Party (if not of America) and the demographic and cultural changes that are transforming it - from a nation with a white and Christian majority ruled by old white men into a country where non-whites are becoming a majority, and where women, gays, African-Americans and Hispanics are gaining political power.

In a way, it was supposed to be the political contra to the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president. He seems the embodiment of the anxieties of many older, conservative white voters over the way the country's demographic profile and social-cultural values are being altered by young and restless Americans who do not look like them and do not share their values.

So indeed, the four women lawmakers elected to Congress in the 2018 mid-term election are young, restless and fascinating women: