Too Old

I agree with Richard Cohen’s assertion in his most recent Washington Post column. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are too old to be president:

Government statistics tell us that a man Biden’s age will live an average of 11 more years. He won’t, however, outlive Sanders, who is scheduled to kick five months later. These, though, are statistical averages, and neither Sanders nor Biden is anything of the sort. They are both white, middle-class by birth and not likely to overdose on drugs, drive drunk or get into a bar fight with someone wearing a MAGA hat, the dunce cap of our times. I am not sure if Sanders works out, but Biden sure does. I have been to the gym with him.

But while looking good may be the best revenge, it isn’t the whole story. The brain ages. It slows down. It forgets. I know men in their 90s — Henry Kissinger comes to mind — who seem as sharp as they’ve ever been, but they are not the rule. It is not necessary to have great mental energy to get elected — President Trump is an intellectual sloth — but it helps. Old age can turn the delight in doing certain tasks into a plodding burden.

The old seek their own comfort zones. I wouldn’t be surprised if Biden thought Snapchat was a breakfast cereal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sanders thought Drake was the English pirate who defeated the Spanish Armada. (How’s that for being an influencer?) It’s fine not to know about these things, but it suggests an unfamiliarity with a world that is ever-changing. The zeitgeist is forever on the move. When you’re over 70, it may well have passed you by.

IMO all of the declared candidates have very serious flaws which their supporters would do well not to to dismiss. If whether Kamala Harris is “black enough” becomes a taboo topic, I think it brings up severe questions about whether the Democrats can win at all in 2020. And the same question may be asked of Cory Booker albeit for different reasons. Many of the candidates are lacking in relevant experience.

I like some of the candidates, e.g. Booker and Hickenlooper, for very different reasons. I can imagine myself voting for them. I can imagine myself voting for Biden. I hope that Democrats don’t make the mistake of thinking that they can throw any candidate against the wall and win in 2020. That’s not going to happen.