Biden, Trump experience valuable, but age is worrisome
Our politics is dominated by the old. Although the median age of the rest of America is 38.9 years, the median age in the U.S. Senate is 65.3 and is 57.8 years in the House of Representatives.
And, of course, the two front-runners for the 2024 presidential race, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, would be well into their 80s before one or the other left the Oval Office in 2029.
Unlike some of my fellow Generation Z, which spans from 1997 to 2012, I generally favor older people in office. Young people are still forming their belief systems and learning how to accomplish the things they want to achieve. Older politicians have more life experience and are less likely to radically change their ideological positions in response to a new crisis.
Career politicians tend to understand how the system works and the mechanisms to get things done. While I get frustrated by a Congress predominantly made up of out-of-touch older people, inexperience is never a virtue, as much as young perspectives might be valued. However, as always, there is a line. As could be seen with the recently deceased Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was 90, access to the high-level medical care that our federal elected leaders enjoy can mitigate the effects of aging for only so long.
Risk of cognitive decline rises with age
Aging also raises the risk of cognitive decline. A recent poll from NewsNation/ Decision Desk found that 74% of voters were “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with how Biden’s cognitive health might affect a second term.
And 59% of those polled said the same about Trump.
Partisan politics may skew those numbers, but if more than half the country is concerned about our leading presidential candidates’ competency to serve as commander in chief, we ought to take note.
Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and one of Trump’s rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, has proposed requiring a mental competency test for candidates older than 75.
Biden, to no one’s surprise, has scoffed at the idea. Trump, on the other hand, endorsed it but doubted the practicality of requiring a mental competency test: “A lot of people say it’s not constitutional to do it.”
Yet, polling suggests that 76% of Americans strongly or somewhat support such tests for politicians.
Candidates’ declining physical health also is a factor
While mental competency tests would be a good thing, declining physical health also needs to be taken into account. It may not be polite to say it, but the older the president, the higher the risk that America’s commander in chief will die while still in office.
With all the chaos in the nation and the world now, America shouldn’t risk the uncertainty and dangers of a sudden transfer of presidential power.
I think neither Biden nor Trump should serve a second term because of their character and policy positions. Their age is just another important factor for why voters need strong (and younger) alternative candidates.
Sadly, America’s voters appear too locked into partisan combativeness to fairly evaluate whether Biden and Trump are capable of serving effectively as octogenarians.