Remember when the rent was too damn high?
Today, America’s politicians are too damn old.
And President Joe Biden’s greatest (unintended) legacy may be getting America’s political system to finally confront the problem.
When news broke Sunday evening about Biden’s diagnosis of prostate cancer with metastasis to the bone, there were many expressions of sympathy from both sides of the aisle.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery,” said President Donald Trump.
Closer to home, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan said she was “deeply saddened to hear this awful news. My prayers are with President Biden, Jill, and their family.”
But while many Americans were sympathetic, none of them were surprised. An 82-year-old man with prostate cancer is about as shocking as a 21-year-old with a post-frat-party hangover. It’s an age-related outcome we’ve come to expect.
The U.S. Constitution addresses the issues raised by excessive youth. Thus, the requirement that a candidate must be at least 35 years old to serve as president is found in Article II, Section 1. The age requirements for the U.S. House (25) and Senate (30) are found in Article I.
Our system acknowledges that a candidate for high public office can be too young. Why not too old?
The embarrassing details pouring out about Biden’s failing mental acuity while in office have provoked a flurry of finger-pointing. Some are blaming reporters who defended Biden’s obvious infirmity rather than reporting the hard facts. CNN’s Jake Tapper accusing Biden critics of mocking his stutter, for example, helped Biden avoid scrutiny, they argue.
Others blame elected Democrats like Hassan, who, even after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, told voters the president was doing fine and deserved four more years.
Former New Hampshire state Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan was still defending Biden as recently as this weekend, telling Democrats to “stop clutching their pearls” over the revelations of Biden’s lack of mental competency and instead get back to attacking Republicans.
“It’s ridiculous,” Sullivan said. “They’ll be apologizing for FDR any minute.”
Still others say there’s only one man to blame, and that’s Biden himself. He knew he wasn’t up to the job. He campaigned on serving a single term, and then he chose to run again, anyway. It’s all Joe’s fault — not a joke!
But instead of blame, this is one of those rare political problems with a simple and obvious fix: Don’t let old people serve as president.
Amending the U.S. Constitution is never easy (that’s a feature, not a bug), but it can be done. And in the current climate, it’s easy to see how an amendment that reads, “No person can serve in elected federal office after their 80th birthday” would roll through Congress and on to the states.
This amendment would be supported — whether they like it or not — by some of the biggest names in American politics: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (85), Sen. Mitch McConnell (83), Rep. Jim Clyburn (84), and perhaps even Trump, who is a youthful 78.
(Don’t worry, MAGA voters, the amendment wouldn’t take effect until after he leaves office.)
The decision of Democrats to ignore Biden’s infirmity and boost him in 2024 looked risky at the time. In hindsight, it’s both despicable and self-destructive. And don’t forget that when Biden finally dropped out, his brother Frank told CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, “Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.”
If it turns out, as many believe, that Biden and his family knew he had cancer months ago and he chose to run anyway, that would compound the Democrats’ disaster. It also adds to the case for taking this decision out of the hands of very elderly candidates.
There’s an argument to be made that the voters will solve this problem. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided not to run for another term at 79 years old. Would she have made the same decision if not for the Biden example being front and center with the voters?
But another way for voters to fix it is by fixing the constitution. Joe Biden’s example is every reason why.
