The Wrinkling Of Washington

How old is too old to run for political office?

I only ask because the wrinkle factor in American politics is alarming. 

Yesterday, octogenarian Nancy Pelosi, 81 (she turns 82 on March 26), announced that she was seeking yet another term - her 18th - in Congress. Fortunately, she’ll almost certainly be out of the Speaker’s chair after the mid-term elections. But isn’t it time for someone a little younger - say someone who was not born during the FDR administration  - to take her place?

I began thinking about age several weeks ago when Joe Biden gave that insanely divisive speech on race. In it, he spoke derisively of the late George Wallace. Researchers were quick to point out that in 1987 then-Sen. Joe Biden praised the Alabama segregationist as an “outstanding young politician.”

Ooops. 

Upon hearing the embarrassing quote about Wallace, my daughter suggested that perhaps it might be time to elect people who weren’t around when segregationists like Wallace were active in politics. 

She has a point. 

Right now we have a 79-year-old President, an 81-year-old Speaker of the House, a 71-year-old Senate Majority Leader in Chuck Schumer, a 79-year-old Minority Leader of the Senate in Mitch McConnell. If my abacus is right, together, this aging quartet has spent 162 years in Washington.

It may be time to step aside, geezers.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump will be 78 in 2024 if he runs again. And Hillary Clinton, who’s been trying to elbow her way back into the spotlight and is rumored to be hoping for a draft-Hillary movement in three years, would be 77.

Look, I don’t favor term limits. I believe Americans ought to be able to vote for any candidate they choose. Plus, experience in government has value. So does seniority on committees.

But there’s a time to exit gracefully. Eighteen terms in Congress is more than enough.

Someone needs to gently tell these geriatrics that there’s life after politics.

They can always earn a few dollars shilling reverse mortgages and erectile dysfunction cures on TV.