Voters’ Age Concerns Aren’t Really About Age
In focus groups, they tell me that the number isn’t the actual issue.
LINDSEY GRAHAM, WHO WAS 71 when he died, was one of six members of Congress to die in this session so far. Mitch McConnell (84), after a weeks-long hospitalization, remains under medical supervision at a rehab facility. This Congress is one of the oldest on record, and boasts more than twenty members who are 80 or older. America’s past two presidents are now 83 and 80.
A lot of voters from both parties tell me in focus groups that they are open to age limits for our politicians. They see the cavalcade of aging politicians deteriorating before our eyes or even dying, and they think that people this old simply shouldn’t be eligible to hold office.
“Shouldn’t there be an age limit to be president?” asked Carlos, a 2024 Trump voter who disapproves of the job the president is doing, pointing out that “Donald Trump’s almost 80, guys.” He observed:
“I am so tired of having people to pick from that are my parents’ age,” said Cyndi, a 2024 Trump voter in Florida, adding:
Ibet, a Trump 2024 voter, said:
A NPR/Marist poll back in May found that 80 percent of voters support upper age limits on candidates running for office. Nearly 90 percent want term limits.
Partly this is because voters tend to view older politicians as part of the same sclerotic, desiccated establishment that partisans of the left and right have both turned against. The thinking goes that if you’ve been around Washington for decades, you’re probably more responsive to donor demands, and not looking out for your constituents.
Or, as Sherrecia, a Biden-to-Trump voter from Georgia, put it:
Janice, a Trump 2024 voter who disapproves of the job he’s doing, said:
Voters’ concern about infirm or aging politicians is not necessarily a new phenomenon. But it does help explain one of the recent trends that is shaking up our national politics.