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[h=1]The favourites for 2020 are all pretty wizened. Is America becoming a gerontocracy?[/h]
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[*=left]DAVID MILLWARD
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[FONT="]17 NOVEMBER 2017 • 11:54AM[/FONT]
It was not all that long ago that the west used to ridicule the Soviet gerontocracy as it was wheeled out onto the dais in Red Square. Konstantin Chernenko was 73 when he became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1984. But he will look like a spring chicken compared to two of the Democrats who are tipped to be mulling over a a White House tilt in 2020.
Joe Biden, who is hurtling around the country punting his book, has "refused to rule out" a run in 2020, even though he would be 77. That would make him a youngster compared to Bernie Sanders, who would be 79 if he has another crack. A University of New Hampshire poll last month – more than 800 days ahead of the first 2020 primaries – puts Sanders in the lead among Democrats. Biden is in second place and Elizabeth Warren, the Left-wing Massachusetts senator who will be 71 at the next election, is in third.
Even Jerry Brown, the famously grumpy governor of California, has been suggested as the man to take on Trump, according to the Washington Post. He will be 82 on election day. Donald Trump, who has already set up a 2020 campaign organisation, will be a year older than Chernenko when he runs for re-election – but could still be younger than his opponent.
Joe Biden, who is hurtling around the country punting his book, has "refused to rule out" a run in 2020, even though he would be 77. That would make him a youngster compared to Bernie Sanders, who would be 79 if he has another crack. A University of New Hampshire poll last month – more than 800 days ahead of the first 2020 primaries – puts Sanders in the lead among Democrats. Biden is in second place and Elizabeth Warren, the Left-wing Massachusetts senator who will be 71 at the next election, is in third.
Even Jerry Brown, the famously grumpy governor of California, has been suggested as the man to take on Trump, according to the Washington Post. He will be 82 on election day. Donald Trump, who has already set up a 2020 campaign organisation, will be a year older than Chernenko when he runs for re-election – but could still be younger than his opponent.
American politicians do seem to go on a long time. Ted Kennedy was a member of the Senate from 1962 to 2009. Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, clocked up more than 51 years of service before he died in office, aged 92.
On the other hand there are some younger names on the Democrat side being touted as potential standard bearers including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala Harris of California. But in 2016 the bright young hopes did not fare well. Marco Rubio came a cropper but at least he got to the primaries, unlike Scott Walker who pulled the plug on his campaign in September 2015.
On the other hand there are some younger names on the Democrat side being touted as potential standard bearers including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala Harris of California. But in 2016 the bright young hopes did not fare well. Marco Rubio came a cropper but at least he got to the primaries, unlike Scott Walker who pulled the plug on his campaign in September 2015.
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[FONT="]A fascinating couple of Pew Research polls showed that voters have gradually become more receptive to older candidates in recent years. In 2007 48 per cent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for presidential candidates in their 70s. By 2014 that figure dropped to 36 per cent. Perhaps this explains why a number of gnarled veterans believe they have a glimmer of hope for 2020.
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[FONT="]It is not as if Americans are averse to choosing a president well beyond retirement age. Ronald Reagan put that to bed with his memorable response on being challenged about his age during the 1984 election.
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[FONT="]It is not as if Americans are averse to choosing a president well beyond retirement age. Ronald Reagan put that to bed with his memorable response on being challenged about his age during the 1984 election.
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[FONT="]"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," he said during a televised debate. It was a crack which even made his rival, Walter Mondale, laugh.[/FONT]
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