President Biden’s age — and whether he should stay or go — nearly tore Democrats apart this summer.

In fact, a decision for the president to bow out earlier — and give other candidates, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, the chance to run for the Oval Office — may have salvaged the election for the party.

The divide between old and new and the direction of the party is threatening to drive a wedge through the Democratic coalition. In fact, the race between Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to serve as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee represented a microcosm of that skirmish.

The 74-year-old Connolly, recovering from esophageal cancer, bested the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez for the high-profile spot in the Democratic Caucus recently. The ranking Democrat on that panel will duel daily with Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. Connolly is also expected to serve as the party’s lead attack dog for looming tangles with the incoming Trump administration.

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Comer was rooting for Ocasio-Cortez. He knew selecting her would amplify her positions as to the direction of the party.

"I hope they put her on there because she symbolizes what the Democrats stand for. She's a socialist. She's the architect of the Green New Deal in the House," said Comer.

It was a generational choice for Democrats.

Youth versus experience.

But what about the future of the party?

Ocasio-Cortez is an icon of the progressive movement. She’s one of the highest wattage stars in Congress — albeit sometimes a lightning rod.

Does the party want to tout liberal pols like Ocasio-Cortez — which would resonate in the left-leaning, multicultural precincts of Jackson Heights and College Point in New York? Or figure out how to speak to swaths of swing voters and even moderate Democrats in Omaha, Nebraska, parts of Ohio and the Dakotas?

It wasn’t that long ago that Democrats represented many of these places. The entire North and South Dakota delegations — House and Senate — were comprised of Democrats. Former Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., were political icons in the Cornhusker State. Ohio was a swing state at the presidential level.

Connolly is by no stretch a "conservative" Democrat. He lacks the political allure of Ocasio-Cortez. That is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. Connolly is a workhorse. He’s a serious legislator with a nimble mind and can go toe-to-toe with the best of them verbally on the committee dais or on the House floor.

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The question is: Did House Democrats again stiff the progressives? Did they again shut out youth and vigor?

Unclear.

An Ocasio-Cortez victory would have signaled that Democrats veered left. That was one of the problems for the party in the election. But when it comes to "youth" and "turning the page" in the party, few have more currency on this subject than outgoing Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. Certain quarters of the Democratic establishment excoriated Phillips when he made a quixotic challenge to President Biden in the party. Now Phillips is retiring from Congress.

"It is time to elevate the best and brightest. We have literally kept them from ascending to leadership positions, which means they go elsewhere," lamented Phillips. "And when we lose that kind of talent of ambitious, competent, patriotic young Americans, we're in trouble."

Democrats are trying to figure out where they will land after a brutal election loss. The path to rebuild a viable coalition is a challenge. Especially after President-elect Trump figured out a way to grow the GOP base and lure disaffected voters in his direction.

"It's quite apparent that the Democratic caucus has long valued people who have been here a long time," said Phillips, criticizing how the party doesn’t recruit "young, talented Americans." He said that Democrats "will continue losing" if they do not "open up" to younger voters.

For his part, Connolly argued the old versus young debate was a "false narrative, frankly, propounded by the media."

But even as Connolly won, the party selected several younger lawmakers (and keep in mind that "younger" is a relative term when it comes to Congress) to serve as the ranking members on several committees.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who is 77, stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee in favor of the practically spright 62-year-old Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. Raskin just recovered from lymphoma.

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Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., a 78-year-old, was absent for much of the year suffering from cancer. Grijalva has served as the leading Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. He stepped away from that role, while 60-year-old Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., defeated a newcomer to Congress — 45-year-old Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., — to serve as ranking member of that panel.

"Only in Congress do I get to be young at 60 years old," quipped Huffman. "So it's like the fountain of youth."

Like Grijalva, 79-year-old Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., was absent for chunks of time over the past year due to health problems. He is the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee. Scott declined to step down. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., who is 72, and 52-year-old Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., challenged Scott, as Democrats clashed over age and experience.

"I don't know that it's a clash," said Costa before the vote. "We’ve got a terrific group of members in our Democratic Caucus. Members that have been elected in recent classes. But certainly we've got on spectrum, tremendous experience and a solid bench."

The younger Craig defeated both Scott and Costa to claim the ranking position on Agriculture.

After prevailing, Craig did not focus on age. She addressed political practicalities instead.

"Democrats overall are not connecting with rural communities. That's something we've been able to do in my district. I represent a D-plus one district and I just won it by about 14 percentage points," said Craig.

In other words, her district in southeastern Minnesota nominally favors Democrats, but the moderate Craig whipped her opponent.

"(When) we show up, we listen to people and they know that we care about them and about their lives," said Craig. "And I think the Democratic Party needs to do more of that. Show up. Listen. And make sure that people know they care about them."

As Democrats sorted out their committee leaders, yours truly spotted 78-year-old Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, near a Capitol stairway.

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Kaptur is an anomaly in Congress, in so many ways.

First elected in 1982, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in Congressional history. She’s a pro-life Democrat. And despite her seniority — and one might argue gender — Kaptur has never gotten to chair or serve as the top Democrat on any House committee.

Much of that is due to her stance on abortion. But Kaptur’s experience and Ocasio-Cortez’s experience bring this debate full circle. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advocated for Connolly over the New York Democrat. And for years, Kaptur asserts that the powerful Pelosi blocked her ascension, too.

"In the case of the Appropriations Committee, the people that get elected in my party tend to come from the coasts," observed Kaptur, saying it took her a decade to even get a slot on the Appropriations roster. "I had to defeat Nancy Pelosi to do that on about five ballots. I began to understand the way this organization called ‘Congress’ functions."

Kaptur says that most Democratic ranking members on committees are "all from the coasts. They’re not from our region of America."

Kaptur believes the party must focus on "bread-and-butter issues at home" if they’re going to reclaim the voters who President-elect Trump scored in November.

"The President-elect was correct when he talked about prices when he went to a McDonald’s. That’s where so many of my constituents work and eat," said Kaptur.

She added that Trump’s ride in a garbage truck sealed the deal with working-class Americans.

"He artfully identified with their plight," said Kaptur.

That characterization from Kaptur is the quintessential distillation of the entire presidential race. It explains many of the reasons why Trump won. It underscored how Democrats struggle to speak to "working class" Americans and those who reside in the middle of the country.

The tug-of-war will continue for Democrats as moderates and progressives — plus newcomers and the older guard — scrap over the future of the party.

But it’s hard to argue with Kaptur — both from electoral experience and politics. She won re-election in a state carried by Trump. That’s to say nothing of Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, winning statewide, as well.

When it comes to choice spots on key committees, Democrats have ignored lawmakers like Kaptur and shut them out. Ocasio-Cortez lost to Connolly. Raskin, Huffman and Craig are now the top Democrats on several committees. It’s a mixture of younger members, but more pragmatism. Does it mean Democrats got the message? Not necessarily.

Check back in six months to see if these maneuvers represent a major course correction.

Worthy's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulted in a longer PAT try, which Harrison Butker missed.

Matt Gorman said Harris will not be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028.

The 'One Dance' rapper has had a months-long feud with Kendrick Lamar and other musicians this year

Netflix and Adam Sandler gave fans a holiday surprise, dropping the first teaser for 'Happy Gilmore 2' early on Christmas Day

Ian Eagle and his son Noah have been tapped as the play-by-play broadcasters for Netflix’s NFL Christmas Gameday

It seems there won't be a Christmas Day cameo from Taylor Swift this year.

There’s absolutely no good reason he shouldn’t be a Met again.

The two Jenner sisters coordinated in white looks, with the makeup mogul sporting a sequined Saint Laurent gown and the model in a silk Phoebe Philo gown.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end arrived solo to the game wearing a festive red Santa hat to mark the holidays amid his girlfriend's absence.

The couple spread holiday cheer by sending a gift to Sheawna Weathersby, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.

In the forests near Kharkiv, Askold Krushelnycky speaks to soldiers spending Christmas fighting a hi-tech battle against Vladimir Putin’s forces

© Askold Krushelnycky

Former NFL linebacker Bill Bergey has died, his son announced on Christmas Day. He was 79.

Bergey, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1974-1980, had been battling cancer for the past few years. His son, Jake Bergey, said his father was an "out right great person."

The South Dayton, New York, native's professional football career began in the late 1960s when he played for the Cincinnati Bengals. 

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"After a long hard 3 year battle, Dad lost his fight with Cancer. The best father, friend, grand father, football player and out right great person in this world. I will truly miss him.  Love you dad," Jake wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

 Bergey recorded nearly 1,200 tackles during his standout tenure with the Eagles. He earned Pro Bowl honors four times during his time in Philly. Bergey received the first Pro Bowl nod of his career in 1969 when he was with the Bengals.

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The former linebacker was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1988. He received another honor in 2011 when he became a member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2023, Bergey shared some details about his relationship with Buffalo Bills legend Jim Kelly. The former Bills quarterback battled jaw cancer and became one of Bergey's trusted confidants.

"He has kind of been my inspiration," Bergey told the Eagles official team website last year. "He keeps me on the up and up. ‘Just remember,’ he would say, 'You're a football player, you're tough, and you can beat this. You can handle this.'"

Bergey played college football at Arkansas State. After he retired from the NFL, Bergey spent several years contributing to the Eagles' pregame and postgame coverage.

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• I'm already getting sad that all of my kids will be out of high school in half a decade.
• I'm also excited about all the things I'll have time to do when I'm an empty nester.
• I'm taking steps now — like building better friendships — to ensure I'm not lost when they leave.

I realized earlier this year that if everything goes according to plan, all four of my kids will be out of high school in just five years.

Even if they don't move out of the house, then I'll have a lot more free time. Right now, I'm still driving some of them around. They have school, practices, classes, and clubs. Our evenings and weekends often revolve around their plans and performances. I love being part of this whirlwind of activity.

But as I think about the fact that I'm close to an empty nest, I oscillate between being excited that I'll have time to pursue other interests and being sad that I won't be spending all that time with my favorite people in the world.

I'm trying to set myself up now so that when this stage is over, I won't be a lonely, empty nester and feel left behind.

I'm working on other relationships

When it first hit me that I could have an empty nest in five years, I realized I'd need some friends. It's going to be strange to go from a rowdy house that once held four noisy children to a quiet home with two middle-aged adults.

I made a conscious decision to strengthen my relationships with my friends about a year ago. I listed a handful of people whom I wanted to know better, and I'm trying to build those relationships. I meet up with them for dinner, drinks, or coffee. I text people when I'm thinking of them. I check up with friends after they return from a trip or something big happens.

These things don't come naturally to me. I'd rather be in my PJs by 5:30 p.m. and curled up on the couch than go to dinner. But I never regret spending time with my friends. We have good, sometimes ridiculous, and sometimes important conversations. We've been friends since our kids were little, but now we have more time to invest in each other. It's also been helpful to have other women in my life who are experiencing the same feelings I am.

I'm also making a deliberate effort to connect with my husband. As the kids have gotten older, we've taken some trips without them. We have date nights or try to do other activities together. Our kids have consumed a lot of our time these past two decades, and I want to make sure we still know each other when those kids move out.

I'm already planning the activities I want to try when the kids leave

I've wanted to volunteer at several places in my community over the years, but our family schedules haven't allowed it. So, I'm looking forward to checking out those opportunities when my schedule opens up.

My husband and I also want to do a lot more traveling, which will be easier when we don't have to consider school schedules. We already have a list of places across the globe that we dream of going. We're already doing research and planning travel budgets, and it's getting me excited about seeing the world.

I'm prioritizing exercise and my body

It's a cruel irony that just when I get some extra time for hiking, travel, and other active things that I love, my body is beginning to slowly fall apart.

It's nothing big — yet. But I have a funny twinge in my knee sometimes. I sneezed, and my back hurt for two days. Lots of small parts that I never thought about before hurt randomly now.

I'm exercising and trying to maintain the mobility I'm lucky enough to have. I'm doing cardio, and I've added weights to strengthen my bones and fight off osteoporosis. I want to climb mountains and walk city streets in far-flung places, so I need to keep my body working as well as I can.

It's time to look inward

I'm also noticing that as my kids get older, I have more time to reflect on myself. It's hard to wrestle with who you want to be at your core when you're in the midst of diapers, spills, and messy faces. Now, I have time to think again.

I'm spending time meditating and focusing more on my spiritual life. I'm thinking about who I want to be as a person in the second half of my time on this planet.

I'm also thinking about career moves now that I can spend more time on my work. Do I need any coaching to advance? Is there somewhere I really want to work? Do I need more education or to make other changes?

I'm also staying open to the idea of therapy or counseling. This stage of life, when we say goodbye to our fledgling children, comes at the same time as a lot of other stressors. Lots of us worry about the next big thing on the horizon — like retirement.

I'm already feeling many emotions about this next chapter in our family. My husband came downstairs the other day to find me having a good cry because our son is graduating … in a year and a half.

I know planning for our empty nest doesn't mean I won't feel sad, nostalgic, or even lonely despite my best efforts. But I think this next phase will also be exciting and fulfilling as all of us in this family continue to grow.

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President-elect Trump's inauguration is drawing donations from an array of blue chip companies, and is likely to exceed all past ceremonies in terms of fundraising.

Why it matters: This is a chance to earn goodwill from Trump, including for companies that distanced themselves from him in the past.

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Driving the news: Toyota announced a $1 million donation on Tuesday, matching the amounts pledged by Ford and General Motors. Both U.S. carmakers also will provide vehicles for the ceremony.

• Silicon Valley is also pitching in: Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI each promised $1 million, while Uber is donating $2 million. Some of those donations are coming from their CEOs rather than from the companies themselves.
• Wall Street donors include Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
• Crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase are getting in on the action too.
• Also cutting seven-figure checks, per the WSJ: AT&T, Charter Communications, Stanley Black & Decker, Intuit, Charter Communications, Pratt Industries and The PhRMA trade group.

Flashback: Several of the companies suspended political donations after Jan. 6 or released statements saying they would reconsider their approaches, WSJ reports.

• Four years later, some companies that denounced the insurrection are giving more to Trump's inauguration than they ever have for previous ceremonies.
• "People just really want to move forward and move on. The election results were very clear," a rep for one of the companies told WSJ, which adds that some statements condemning Jan. 6 have disappeared from company webpages.

What to watch: Trump's inauguration also is on pace to raise considerably more money than President Biden's in 2021.

• That's a possible sign that companies see Trump as a more transactional figure, and hope donating to his inauguration will improve their standing heading into the new term.

Go deeper: Dems' plan inauguration boycott

Russian companies are using bitcoin to evade Western sanctions, thanks to a new law, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed in a television interview.

Why it matters: Russia's economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments, even with countries like China that don't use the U.S. dollar as their reserve currencies.

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Catch up quick: The Kremlin last month created an experimental legal framework for cryptocurrency miners, which includes a provision whereby approved entities can use crypto for international trade.

• It also could be a boon for Russian energy companies, which now can sell to a power-hungry group of domestic bitcoin miners.

Reality check: Just because Russian companies are allowed by their government to make payments in bitcoin, that doesn't necessarily mean all other countries will accept it — both due to their own laws and pressure on domestic banks from Western financial regulators.

The bottom line: This development could create a challenge for President-elect Trump, who is both a crypto convert and advocate for U.S. dollar dominance.

Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas special is a lot of fun, but it tries a bit too hard to make you cry.

Claire Morgan, 30, couldn't believe it when she watched the footage, and she made sure to get more rest after seeing what happened.

“He sends his warmest wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to all," Clinton's deputy chief of staff said in a statement