Is 70 the new 50 for presidential candidates? Biden, Sanders, Trump suggest so.

[highplainsdem]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-ageism-old-candidates-biden-sanders-trump-20190423-story.html

Isn't it weird that even though millennials (ages 23-38) have surpassed baby boomers (55-73) as America's largest cohort, or age group, the leaders of the presidential sweepstakes are well beyond what's thought of as retirement age, which is itself a shaky concept?

The Gray Panthers was founded in 1970 by Philadelphian Maggie Kuhn, when she was forced to retire from a job she loved because she hit the magic age of 65. She lost her job, but launched a movement.

A tireless quote machine, Kuhn said there were six myths about old age: “That it's a disease, a disaster. That we are mindless. That we are sexless. That we are useless. That we are powerless. That we are all alike.”

Kuhn died in 1995 at 89, and since there is no Philadelphia chapter, I asked Jack Kupferman, 64, an attorney who leads New York City's Gray Panthers, what Kuhn might say about a candidate being too old.

“That's nonsense, that's just nonsense,” Kupferman imagines her saying. “The basic thing is understanding and experience. And the ability to get things done is essential.” Ideas are good or bad, not young or old.

Predictably (because they are my age peers), I say the gray-haired guys (not to mention the orange-haired one) still are buzzy. They are a finished product.

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been,” said my peer David Bowie, who died at 69.

[leftofcool]

1. No

I am 72 and that last thing I want is someone my age back in the WH. Its is time to start thinking about the kids coming of age that will run the world and they need a young leader.

[Demsrule86]

2. It is time to get rid of Trump.

[highplainsdem]

3. By that standard, Nelson Mandela should never have led South Africa.

And since as a 72-year-old, you're "thinking about the kids," what in the world makes you think other people your age can't also think about the kids, and the future?

[Skittles]

4. it shouldn't be

[highplainsdem]

5. Well, since Biden, Sanders, and Warren (who'll be 70 in June) combined have

well over 50% of the voters in most polls, I'd say most Democrats disagree with you.

[Skittles]

8. at this point a lot of it is name recognition

[crazytown]

6. Ex post rationalisation

And my Aunt smoked two packs a day and lived to 100

[highplainsdem]

7. ? Not quite sure what you mean there, but since you're a Warren supporter and she'll be 70

in less than two months, apparently you're OK with presidential candidates in their 70s.

[loyalsister]

10. Only if voters deny reality

Physical and mental decline are natural processes that are relevant to jobs which demand both be in good working order.
Exceptions don't disprove the predictable tendency of our bodies to gradually fail us as we age. And ignoring that fact will not be helpful for the 2020 campaign or the presidency to follow.

[BlueStater]

11. Biden and Sanders are closer to 80 at this point.

They'll be in their damn 80s for the majority of their hypothetical presidencies.