After watching both Democratic Presidential debates this week, one has to ask the question:
It is time for a new generation of leadership for the Democrats?
The Democratic Party, historically, has regularly gone for younger candidates for President than the Republicans.
Witness Franklin D. Roosevelt, age 51; Adlai Stevenson, age 52; John F. Kennedy, age 43; Lyndon B. Johnson full term, age 56; Hubert Humphrey, age 57; George McGovern, age 50; Jimmy Carter, age 52; Walter Mondale, age 56; Michael Dukakis, age 56; Bill Clinton, age 46; Al Gore, age 52; Barack Obama, age 47.
Compare this to Dwight D. Eisenhower, age 62; Gerald Ford, 1976, age 63; Ronald Reagan, age 69; George H W Bush, age 64; Bob Dole, age 73; John McCain, age 72; Mitt Romney, age 65; Donald Trump, age 70.
So nominating Bernie Sanders, age 79; Joe Biden, age 78; or Elizabeth Warren, age 71—all of whom would be the oldest first term nominated Presidential candidate—might be the wrong way to go!
Might it NOT be better to nominate, at their ages at the time of the Presidential Election of 2020?
Pete Buttigieg age 39
Tulsi Gabbard age 39
Eric Swalwell age 40
Julian Castro age 46
Beto O’Rourke age 48
Cory Booker age 51
Steve Bullock age 54
Kirsten Gillibrand age 54
Kamala Harris age 56
Amy Klobuchar age 60
The most obvious risks of electing a super-geriatric person to the most powerful office in the world is that the person will die or become demented in office.
Why just the President? Why not all branches? If you’re worried about a senile Executive, you should be just as (if not more) worried about a senile Legislative and Judicial as well.
I’ve always assumed that the Founders set in place the 35 year old rule to ensure at least some proper experience. However, given that Trump had zero experience in politics when he was elected, that’s evidence that the 35 year minimum isn’t accomplishing its stated purpose. If the goal was to ensure that politicians had some experience, it would have made far more sense to set a minimum time for serving in a political position rather than an age minimum.
When they came up with that age requirement, I don’t think they envisioned someone with no knowledge of politics, no knowledge of how government works, etc., ever becoming president.
Ronald writes,
“It is time for a new generation of leadership for the Democrats?â€
No.
It is time for a Democratic Party which is actually a left-wing political party who chooses the people before their corporate donors. In other words: Main Street before Wall Street.
Looks like some of us here are paying more attention than others. The Democratic Party does put Main Street before Wall Street.
My father, rest his soul, warned me to never, ever vote for a Republican. He warned me that they are the party that is ruining this country, not the Democrats.
Mom’s father was very wise! 🙂
Princess Leia writes, “The Democratic Party does put Main Street before Wall Street.â€
That is incorrect.
https://theintercept.com/2019/04/26/dccc-blacklist-marie-newman-dan-lipinski/
Pragmatic’s father is the one who is correct on this issue. I was raised in a family of Democrats. My first vote as a teen was for JFK. So I know for sure which party is for the people and which party is not.
Our party’s platform tells about the many things our family and other Democrats we know support. How are these things anti-progressive?
https://democrats.org/about/party-platform/?source=homepage