Too Damn Old: Should there be a maximum age to run for office?

There are some seriously old politicians running for office, especially for President of the U.S. How old is too old? Being president or prime minister of a country is not an easy job: is a 70 year old up to it? According to his son, Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer's while he was in office, at around the same age as Trump is now. And considering what Trump has said recently, one has to wonder about his state of mind, too.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/17/ronald-reagan-alzheimers-president...

So, should there be a limit to how old you can be to run for a job that includes control of nuclear weapons?

In Uganda there is an age limit, although Museveni is now challenging it and also claiming that his actual date of birth is later than previously thought.

>2 John5918: Lol. Don't give Trump any ideas...

>3 madpoet:

Fortunately the USA has a more reliable system of issuing birth certificates than Uganda did seventy-odd years ago. Mind you, that didn't stop right-wingers from challenging Obama's!

Candidates who will be 80 by end of first terms are too old, IMO. Bernie Sanders certainly sounds okay now (and with Inslee out, I like his climate strategy), but the chance of dementia and other woes is just too great as one approaches 80 for the singular job of American President. Biden has a history of mis-speaking, but one can't help worrying how he'd perform into a first term.

Should be ongoing physical AND mental screening for all candidates, though difficult to establish cut-off points: Elizabeth Warren at 70 sure sounds sharp, but Donald Trump at 73 occasionally slurs his words (mini-stroke? meds?), and the complexity of his sentence structure, etc., has certainly declined.

Even more important than cognitive decline would be stamina, focus, impulse-control, ability to work with others?

Is Donald's anti-immigrant message the equivalent of the stereotypical old man tirade of "Get off my lawn!"?

Well, some of these older politicians are certainly atypical of people their age. Trump uses Twitter more than most teenagers, and Bernie Sanders is more progressive than any 70 year old I've ever met But I think once you get to that age, it's time to let a younger generation with new ideas have a chance.

How the Rs would characterize Biden if D candidate:

Biden's eye fills with blood during CNN climate town hall
Julio Rosas & Joseph Simonson | September 04, 2019

Former Vice President Joe Biden appeared to have a blood vessel burst in his left eye while participating in CNN's town hall on climate change.

A broken blood vessel in the eye, also known as a subconjuctival hemorrhage, can be caused by several things, including high blood pressure, bleeding disorders, blood thinners, or even excessive straining.

Biden, 76, has long been plagued by health issues...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bidens-eye-fills-with-blood-during-cnn-c...