Howard Dean: 'My Generation Needs to Get the Hell Out of Politics'

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33. You don't seem to be the type of old person that I was referring to.

The fact is republicans get their voting margin from the 60 and above age group. To many of those people it is about them and those close to them, and not about society as a whole. You are one of the exceptions, bless you. You are right, some young people demand the whole loaf or nothing, that is why mentoring from older people is so critical - let the young people fight the battles while teaching them that sometimes blasting all the cannons is not the wisest choice.

I don't plan to ever retire, but I also realize that a time comes when I should move from the point and let younger people take the point while I mentor them in the hope that they avoid the mistakes that I have made - if I do that right, I see fresh perspective and ENERGY come into efforts that are important to me.

In no way am I an ageist, I strongly believe that corporations and businesses make a grave mistake when they fire older workers or won't hire them - not just a moral mistake, but a serious business efficiency and effectiveness mistake.

I get the sense from your post that you are in the academic world. I am in the business world as an engineer. One of the great things about academia is that older people can contribute until they are ready to do something else, in the business world that typically only happens for people that wholly own the business.

I want to see the older politicians in our party use their vast experience and wisdom to mentor and help shape the people that will be leading 15 years from now, that is what I got out of what Howard Dean said.

Sorry if I pissed you off, but I also have very strong viewpoints in this area.