by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Age impacts us. It dims our alertness, drains our energy, clouds our perceptions, hardens our opinions, and hobbles our bodies. The acceptance of these increasing limitations is perhaps the most difficult part of the aging process. We can see and accept aging in others, but in our own minds, we are forever forty.
Patty Judge is the former Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Iowa who ran unsuccessfully against Charles Grassley for his Senate seat in 2016. One of the reasons that she lost the race against the elderly and cantankerous Grassley was the Trump voter insurrection that rocked parts of the United States that fall - including Iowa.
Ms. Judge, who had some money left over from her unsuccessful race against Grassley, wanted to put it to good use - and she wanted to know more about what motivated voters. One of the things she was curious about was how a state like Iowa could give victories to Obama twice and then turn around and cast a majority for Trump in 2016. She also wanted to know what Iowans thought of the current crop of Democratic hopefuls.
So Patty Judge used her campaign left-overs from 2016 and commissioned a poll. The results were surprising - and a bit concerning.
Joe Biden led the pack by a big margin. He was at 37% with poll respondents, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 16%, Bernie Sanders at 12%, Kampala Harris 10%, and Cory Booker 8%. Beyond that, no other candidate received more than two percent.
However, the poll also revealed that the respondents described their "ideal" presidential candidate as "someone younger and free of Washington tarnish."
The pollster and Democratic strategist Jeff Link noted that once people cross the line from speculation to actual candidacy, their numbers tend to drop. He explained:
By Mr. Link's logic, the venerable Joe Biden is way out in front now, but as soon as he officially jumps into the race he will be slogging through the same mud as everybody else. At the point his political star will begin to fade.
And that is where age comes in.
Joe Biden will be just a couple of weeks shy of his 78th birthday when the 2020 election rolls around, and even at that he is not the oldest Democrat who is chomping at the bit to run. Bernie Sanders will already be seventy-nine at the time of the election. Hillary Clinton will be seventy-three, and Elizabeth Warren will be seventy-one.
The youth of the upcoming Democratic slugfest will be represented by Kamala Harris who will be a mere child of fifty-six in 2020, Kirsten Gillibrand who will be fifty-three, and Cory Booker at an invigorating fifty-one.
The next presidential election is a must win not only for the Democratic Party, it is also a must win for the decency and future of America. Yes, experience is important, but that is not the sole factor in choosing a leader. Even the youngest of the current Democratic hopefuls already have more experience on the national stage than Barack Obama did when he was elected President, and he proved to be more than capable of handling the rigors and challenges of the job. What Obama lacked in experience he more than made up for with his alertness, enthusiasm, energy, and raging intellect - all of which were enhanced by his youth.
Growing old involves a lot of letting go, and that is tough for any of us. And while no one should diminish or disparage the dedicated service and selfless efforts that the Democratic Party elders have given to the nation over the course of their long and proud political careers, there does come a time when each of us should step aside and let the next generation have its turn.
The next election will not be won by a graying Washington plow horse. The next election will be about change and reinvigorating the American spirit - and that race will be best run by a candidate who is everything that Donald Trump is not: intelligent, vital, and comfortably below the age of retirement!
It's time for Democrats to embrace the future!
Citizen Journalist
Age impacts us. It dims our alertness, drains our energy, clouds our perceptions, hardens our opinions, and hobbles our bodies. The acceptance of these increasing limitations is perhaps the most difficult part of the aging process. We can see and accept aging in others, but in our own minds, we are forever forty.
Patty Judge is the former Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Iowa who ran unsuccessfully against Charles Grassley for his Senate seat in 2016. One of the reasons that she lost the race against the elderly and cantankerous Grassley was the Trump voter insurrection that rocked parts of the United States that fall - including Iowa.
Ms. Judge, who had some money left over from her unsuccessful race against Grassley, wanted to put it to good use - and she wanted to know more about what motivated voters. One of the things she was curious about was how a state like Iowa could give victories to Obama twice and then turn around and cast a majority for Trump in 2016. She also wanted to know what Iowans thought of the current crop of Democratic hopefuls.
So Patty Judge used her campaign left-overs from 2016 and commissioned a poll. The results were surprising - and a bit concerning.
Joe Biden led the pack by a big margin. He was at 37% with poll respondents, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 16%, Bernie Sanders at 12%, Kampala Harris 10%, and Cory Booker 8%. Beyond that, no other candidate received more than two percent.
However, the poll also revealed that the respondents described their "ideal" presidential candidate as "someone younger and free of Washington tarnish."
The pollster and Democratic strategist Jeff Link noted that once people cross the line from speculation to actual candidacy, their numbers tend to drop. He explained:
"I think that while he (Biden) has awesome numbers, my recollection in 2014 was Secretary Clinton had stratospheric numbers. I think for people like Secretary Clinton or like Biden, they are very popular until they join the race. Then they become a candidate like everybody else as opposed to the revered figure."
By Mr. Link's logic, the venerable Joe Biden is way out in front now, but as soon as he officially jumps into the race he will be slogging through the same mud as everybody else. At the point his political star will begin to fade.
And that is where age comes in.
Joe Biden will be just a couple of weeks shy of his 78th birthday when the 2020 election rolls around, and even at that he is not the oldest Democrat who is chomping at the bit to run. Bernie Sanders will already be seventy-nine at the time of the election. Hillary Clinton will be seventy-three, and Elizabeth Warren will be seventy-one.
The youth of the upcoming Democratic slugfest will be represented by Kamala Harris who will be a mere child of fifty-six in 2020, Kirsten Gillibrand who will be fifty-three, and Cory Booker at an invigorating fifty-one.
The next presidential election is a must win not only for the Democratic Party, it is also a must win for the decency and future of America. Yes, experience is important, but that is not the sole factor in choosing a leader. Even the youngest of the current Democratic hopefuls already have more experience on the national stage than Barack Obama did when he was elected President, and he proved to be more than capable of handling the rigors and challenges of the job. What Obama lacked in experience he more than made up for with his alertness, enthusiasm, energy, and raging intellect - all of which were enhanced by his youth.
Growing old involves a lot of letting go, and that is tough for any of us. And while no one should diminish or disparage the dedicated service and selfless efforts that the Democratic Party elders have given to the nation over the course of their long and proud political careers, there does come a time when each of us should step aside and let the next generation have its turn.
The next election will not be won by a graying Washington plow horse. The next election will be about change and reinvigorating the American spirit - and that race will be best run by a candidate who is everything that Donald Trump is not: intelligent, vital, and comfortably below the age of retirement!
It's time for Democrats to embrace the future!
3 comments:
Great comment. It's hard to believe that we don't have any young people ready to step in and claim their heritage. That's probably because those that exist are nowhere near the top of the Democratic playbook. This is a real problem. Thanks for this post.
The New York Times, whose logic paralleled the Ramble on this topic, offers up a list of fourteen Young Democrats to watch in a June 25, 2016 opinion piece. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/24/opinion/sunday/14-young-democrats-to-watch.html
Stacey Abrams, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Eric Garcetti, Andrew Gillum, Hakeem Jeffries, Mike Johnston, Joseph P. Kennedy III, Seth Moulton, Patrick Murphy, Ayanna Pressley, and Gina Raimondo,
Certainly this is the tip of the iceberg. Aging also brings on cataracts. Were I younger I could probably see more talent with my own eyes.
Unfortunate as it is, it appears to me that an inordinate number of voters vote based on "star power" for lack of a better description. When asked why she voted for Trump, one person in our small town gave this in depth, thoughtful response: "I saw him years ago on Oprah and I just had to vote for him." Dear Lord, where are you? I don't believe you are an intervening god but maybe you could make an exception this time around for the sake of our country.
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