Time to end the gerontocracy

We need to renew young voters' faith and interest in our democracy

Joe Biden is 79. He will be 82 when his term expires and would be 86 when his second term expires if he runs and wins. Donald Trump is 76. Two years ago his doctors were sufficiently concerned about his mental acuity that they gave him a standard cognitive function test. If he runs again and wins in 2024, that test will be over 8 years old by the time his term in office expires.

Nancy Pelosi is 82. She is running again in 2022. The #2 & #3 in the House leadership behind Pelosi are 83 and 82 (a week from now - happy birthday Rep. Clyburn). They are both running for reelection. Mitch Connell will be almost 85 when his current Senate term ends in 2027. Chuck Schumer is 71 - the spring chicken among this bunch.

As much as I believe that experience is necessary for political office, this is ridiculous. There are serious questions whether 80+ year-olds have the stamina and mental sharpness to serve in these demanding offices. But even more importantly, we live in a period of rapid change due to globalization, the digitization of communications and the dizzying pace of technological innovation. We need new thinking from a younger generation of political leaders to deal with the critical challenges of the 21st century.

The gerontocracy has and their chance and, frankly, have failed as the sad state of our country aptly demonstrates.

This conclusion is buttressed by two polls in by the New York Times released yesterday and today.

The most important finding, to my mind, are that across party lines, is that young people want new leaders and new choices. A stunning 94 percent of Democrats under 30 years old want a presidential candidate other than Joe Biden. Almost 2/3rd’s (64%) of Republican voters under the age of 35 said they would vote against Donald Trump in a primary.

If our political system produces a second-round of Biden vs. Trump, we will essentially telling young people that their views don’t matter even though the decisions being made today about world affairs, the climate, the economy and our social fabric will affect their lives far more than it will affect the 80+ year-olds occupying the White House and other corridors of power.

This problem is especially acute on my side of the political spectrum - the blue team. I supported Biden from the beginning last time because I thought he was the only candidate with the stature and sufficiently moderate appeal to beat Trump - who I viewed as an existential threat to American democracy and world stability. We will never know if Sanders or Warren could have attracted 81 million votes - which is what it took to get over the hump, but I doubt it.

However, during the campaign, Biden explicitly told young voters on multiple occasions that he viewed himself as “bridge” to a new generation of leaders, “not anything else” and a “transitional figure.” This was an implicit promise to young people, and others who were not enthusiastic about his candidacy, that we was running to address the acute emergency of getting Trump out of the White House, but would gracefully step aside for new leaders even if he won. Now, I don’t blame Biden for not making himself a lame duck when his presidency isn’t even two years-old, but I can’t fathom how he is developing a re-election infrastructure and chastising Democratic constituencies for embracing him for an uncontested nomination for 2024.

This seems to be an explicit breach of his promise to young voters during the campaign and as the polls show - they are not buying it.

We can dwell about all the structural issues that are eroding our democracy whether they be about the electoral college or voter registration rules. But ultimately, if our leaders are breaking important promises to the voters and the political system isn’t giving voters candidates that appeal to them, how can we be surprised when the people sour on our democracy itself?

So Biden, Trump, and congressional leaders - it is time to go.

Tell the voters you want to spend more time with the grandchildren.