Much was made about how old Joe Biden was when he ran for president, especially by the 74-year-old former president, who called him Sleepy Joe. Biden was a senator for 36 years and then spent eight years as President Obama’s vice president. He got into the 2020 presidential race after he was shocked to see a vicious white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He won the presidential election and was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
The United States Senate has 100 members, two for each state. I feel the need to mention that because it seems some people don’t know basic civics anymore. Twenty-one of the senators are over age 70 and four are over age 80. That means that a quarter of our Senators are well over retirement age.
There are 435 members of the House of Representatives. They represent portions of the state, not the whole state, so they are supposed to be closer to the people. Many Americans can’t name their Congress member, so I don’t think they feel too close to him or her. I didn’t look up the age of every member of Congress, but they tend to stay on the job well into old age, too.
My point is not ageism. I voted for Joe Biden because I thought he would be able to save us from four more years of a corrupt president who was rapidly dismantling the country. Biden projected dignity, experience, and most of all, his trademark compassion, which we Americans so desperately need. His historic nomination of Kamala Harris for vice president affirmed his willingness to move forward into the 21st century and not promise to return to the good old days that never existed.
Mitt Romney is 73 years old but has been a senator for just two years. He lost to President Obama in the 2012 presidential race and graciously conceded when he was defeated. He won Utah’s Senate race in 2018 and stood alone as the only Republican to vote for the impeachment of Donald Trump. Mitch McConnell, 78, told a reporter in October 2010, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” His agenda was clear.
McConnell has represented Kentucky — one of the poorest states in the country, with a 16.4% poverty rate — in the Senate for 36 years. Clearly these old senators differ in their morals and in their devotion to the people they govern.
Our Senate and House of Representatives have failed to govern the country for several years. Whether it is because of the older senators who have been around for decades or not, something is not working. Some people blame Newt Gingrich, who was House speaker from 1995-’99, and ushered in warfare politics with an us-versus-them mentality. His approach was nurtured by Fox News, and it has metastasized.
One good thing that came from the Trump administration was that millions of Americans were outraged enough to get involved in the election. President Biden received more than 78 million votes and 306 Electoral College votes. Trump’s refusal to concede defeat and to claim the election was “stolen” was expected. But the fact that 147 Republicans voted against certifying the election, even after seditionists stormed the Capitol and endangered their lives, is worrisome. Refusing to accept reality and then lying about it to their constituents so they can keep their seats will lead to more dysfunction. Something has to change.
Republicans are enthusiastic about free markets. OK: They, as legislators, are a commodity in the free market of running for office. The voters are the currency by which they keep their jobs. If a private company had one in four workers who were well past retirement age, they would most likely urge them to take a retirement package. Other’s would simply show them to the door. Voters can show incompetent, corrupt or very old senators and representatives to the door by voting. It’s up to us.
Kathleen Vallee Stein is a writer in Monrovia.