Warren is too old to be VP

[LakeArenal]

According to so many. As VP she would be 78 in 2028. Just like VP Joe Biden.

I have been told over and over that minds turn to mush. What if she fell ill? Her decision making would be seriously in question.

That is what I’ve been told. Over and over.

[wysimdnwyg]

1. So EW would be 79 the day she left office in January 2029...

(Assuming two full terms.)

Biden would be 78 the day of his inauguration in January 2021. This would make him 86 in January 2029. I'm not one to make the age argument, but please don't conflate Warren's age at the END of the second term with Biden's age on inauguration day. That's a completely unfair argument.

[LakeArenal]

3. If she was VP then by some's standard she would be too old to carry any message to the presidency.

Not my thinking.... I’m for Joe.

Ageism is ageism. It’s just as it would be to consider Warren’s age.

Now or later.

[wysimdnwyg]

5. But that's a supposition that, following two terms as VP...

Warren would automatically run for President in 2028. There is no basis for that, and should she do so, you cannot presume to know that those people espousing the thought that Biden is too old now would not hold the same position re: Warren in 2028. Again, I am NOT in that camp, but your argument holds no basis whatsoever with regard to Warren and any possible 2028 campaign. It's an absurd premise on its face as there are too many unknowns.

[LakeArenal]

36. Well ya just proved my point exactly......

Deciding someone is too old at any point is absurd to me.

Young people face just as many "unknowns" as old people.

[Eyeball_Kid]

19. Discrimination against people because of age shouldn't be conflated with...

the mere fact that we all are running on our own biological clocks. We are finite beings. There ARE unrelenting facts that define the aging process, including a decline in cognition. Yes, we all decline at our own rates, but we cannot deny that age has its consequences. In large and small ways, a person in their 70s or 80s will NOT perform with the zest and efficiency as someone with the same talents who is a generation younger. It's simply a fact of life. I do NOT want a person in their late 70s branding themselves as biologically younger, and using that branding to gain power and popularity. I know the arguments related to "ageism", I've worked professionally with seniors, and am one myself. It's great to know that people like Biden and Sanders feel confident that they can handle a job with so much stress and power, but I'm not convinced that their confidence means that they still have the raw energy and cognitive capacity to function in that role. I'll pass on the older folks, and I'll insist that I'm not "discriminating" due to age. I'm simply facing the fact that capacities and abilities rise and fall as our finite lives move forward, and that it's natural.

[LakeArenal]

20. You say potato I say it's ageism.

Discriminating on the basis of what might happen? Based on stereotyping old people.

[genxlib]

21. You say "stereotyping"

I say "go out and try to buy long-term-care or life insurance at the age of 79"

Insurance actuarial science is about hard cold statistics.

It isn't a stereotype. It is a statistical probability.

[LanternWaste]

28. It then begs the question

"Insurance actuarial science is about hard cold statistics...."

It then begs the question: At what specific and arbitrary age should one be considered too old to run, and on what objective data (e.g., "cold. hard statistics&quot is that limit supported?

[genxlib]

40. Actuarial Science won't give you that age

What it will give you are cold statistics for risk an any given age.

It is up to the individual voter to weigh those risks against other factors to determine what is acceptable. Discounting those risks are your prerogative but it doesn't mean they don't exist.

For me, I would prefer a candidate who could fulfill his/her ideal maximum 2-term and still be under 75.

Having said that, I am tentatively behind Biden right now. But that is because he has been the only thing standing between Sanders as a frontrunner. Weighing the risks, Sanders looks like a political disaster to me. And since his age risk is nominally the same as Biden's, I am reluctantly on board with Biden. If Sanders were to drop out, I would seek out someone else. (probably Harris but I am still learning). Most of this hypothetical for me since I am in a late primary, I rarely get to decide anyway.

[LakeArenal]

37. But insurance is not reality.. And there is no insurance on mental competency anyway...

[genxlib]

44. Mental competency is most certainly a component of long-term care insurance

Not only is it one of the most debilitating reasons for needing care, it is also an expensive one.

[LakeArenal]

46. Long term insurance care is out of reach for most of us....

And it is not addressed as mental competency insurance...

[genxlib]

4. I think the point is slightly different than you anticipate.

A Vice Presidency is a powerful boost towards running for Presidency. It is very close to the advantage of incumbency.

Ideally, the VP would be poised to take over for 8 years after their service as VP.

I think that is where the analogy comes in.

[wysimdnwyg]

7. You are right, it is an advantageous position, but the last VP to be elected was H.W. Bush

That was more than 30 years ago, so I'm not sure you have to naturally assume that the next VP will run for President when the time comes.

[genxlib]

10. In Fairness

Gore won.

And Biden chose not to run at that time.

[Celerity]

13. If Biden had not been President Obama's VP, there is zero chance he would be polling above a couple

percent, let along the clear front runner. I highly doubt he would have even run, so it is something to consider.

[LakeArenal]

38. Ha It's called experience...

Some of us think that experience is a great thing.

[Celerity]

50. well, he was the VP for 8 years, so that is the whole point of this line of reasoning about Warren

[sop]

16. And H.W. Bush died at 95, still spry and jumping out of airplanes at 90

LBJ didn't run for a second term and wasn't inaugurated in 1969. And Johnson died on January 22, 1973, at age 64, the day after he would have left office had he been re-elected.

Today Jimmy Carter is probably the sharpest 94-year-old alive. Carter would have been more capable of running the country in 1988, at a time when Ronald Reagan was obviously already suffering from dementia.

I don't care about age. Warren looks to be in great shape right now. No one can predict what will happen in another eight years, but the whole thing is irrelevant because she'll be elected as our next president in 2020.

[LakeArenal]

39. Not to mention RBG

[zanana1]

6. Sounds good to me, too! nt

[genxlib]

8. I know this is meant to be snarky

But I am sorry to say that there is some validity to the argument.

Call it ageism if you want to but the chances of mental and physical decline increase significantly in the eighties. I see it my own father.

But there is a different argument that carries a broader concern. Pulling Warren out of the Senate will allow her to be replaced by a GOP Governor.

[LakeArenal]

11. This post is more about Joe than Liz.

I think all the candidates are viable. At any age.

For me Joe is the most qualified both nationally and globally.

[tymorial]

18. In Massachusetts the law requires a special election.

It was enacted in 2004 to prevent Romney from filling Kerry's seat with a Republican after Kerry secured the nomination. The law was tweaked when Kennedy died in 2009 to allow Deval Patrick to seat a Democrat temporarily until the special election.

Even though Baker and the Massachusetts legislature have a good working relationship, I have no doubt that they would seek to prevent his input given the stakes.

Therefore, Baker will have a limited say in the process "if any."

[genxlib]

22. Thank you for the correction

[treestar]

47. For ordinary people

But not for people who have been Senators. You have to be smart and tough to get there. And notice how they stay active - they don't retire. It is stimulating to have that job, and to run for President. Their minds don't decline due to that.

[Celerity]

51. she would only be replaced for several months, as MA law dictates a special election 145-160 days

after the vacancy (she would resign as soon as the ticket won, so the special election would occur in March or April, 2021.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter54/Section140

[genxlib]

52. Thanks for setting that straight

[Celerity]

54. If Biden is the nominee, my jaw will drop if he chooses Warren as VP. I would be over the moon, but

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2019, 03:30 PM - Edit history (1)

there is nothing to suggest he would do so, especially given their antagonistic history. She cuts against a lot of his fundamental economic legislative history, and also his 'let's go for the swing voters, moderates, older voter, Midwest Trumpkin defectors' angle. Plus she is hated by much of his high-end donor base.

I would love to see him go contrarian (if he is the nominee) and choose her, but I highly doubt he would.

[House of Roberts]

12. When Biden was chosen as VP in 2008,

it made sense in that he might not run against Hillary in 2016, so a successor VP was not needed. Now is different. The next VP needs to be the likely nominee in 2028. If we lose in 2020, forget 2024. We won't even get there.

I don't see us taking the Senate in 2020 unless we generate overwhelming enthusiasm.

[LakeArenal]

14. He would have run had his son not died.

He almost did anyway. So I don’t see the correlation to being selected VP and running against Hillary in 2016

[House of Roberts]

25. Seeing how the Clinton implied threat of being on the outside looking in,

pulled all the Superdelegates to her side so early in the contest in 2020, it would have been interesting had he run. I didn't expect him to run in 2016, and certainly didn't expect him to run in 2020.

What if Obama had selected a younger popular running mate in 2008? Would 2016 have been more different still if that VP had run against Hillary? We'll never know.

[LakeArenal]

41. What if Joe doesn't get dementia as predicted.... We'll never know.

But we will, cuz he's gonna win.....

[we can do it]

15. 🙄

[brooklynite]

17. Told by whom?

[democratisphere]

23. We've got 35% to 40% of the voting population whose minds have apparently turned to mush

in voting for drumpf. Biden's and Warren's minds and bodies are good to go!

[Tiggeroshii]

24. If she is VP to Biden or Bernie

the likelihood of becoming president before 2028 is much higher than any of the other candidates.

[LakeArenal]

34. can't say I disagree.

But she won't be VP in my hope..

[Tiggeroshii]

35. She would be a wonderful president

And VP

[Freethinker65]

26. Who thinks Warren would even consider being Veep?

[Demit]

31. I don't. The office is a powerless one, essentially ceremonial.

I see her as preferring to go back to the Senate and be in a position to do things.

[BeyondGeography]

42. I don't think she has a plan for that

No.

[LakeArenal]

43. That is not the point of the thread...

[Freethinker65]

55. Yes. Ageism and sexism. But why even mention the office of Veep.

Warren is running for President.

[Bradshaw3]

27. The Biden supporters are getting desperate

When whataboutism uses pretzel logic is the nicest thing you can say about this post. Yesterday it was "attack Booker" day on here. Now it's this.

[LakeArenal]

33. Haha . sure we are desperate that our double digit lead is pretzel logic.

As for Booker.... there is NO NO need to attack Booker (with exception to his railroading of Al Franken). He will take care of his own campaign.

[awesomerwb1]

29. Joe will probably be a one term president BY CHOICE

I just have a feeling if he wins he'll pick a VP thinking long term.

[LakeArenal]

30. Not if his supporters have a say.. A lame duck Prez we do not need.

[LakeArenal]

45. I would direct the fuck to you in a much different direction.

[pandr32]

48. Anyone could "fall ill" at any time

I don't know how you have not noticed that there is a health crisis in this country, so why just worry about aging citizens?
If Warren were to win the White House as either the President or Vice-President I am sure she would spend her time working and trying to help put this country back on a better track. Even if she were to "fall ill" she would have already put everything she is and has into doing her job.
We would be in a better place.

[dawg day]

49. So let's elect her PRESIDENT

AThat is what she's running for. You want to demote her?

[Freethinker65]

56. Exactly

[TalenaGor]

53. what?? she looks 55 to me lol

I don't know this is also weird that people nitpick a couple of years......seems to me a vast majority of our candidates are in their seventies

For fun.... Here's a great article/chart regarding the ages of the candidates

[link:https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2019/05/03/2020-candidates-ages/3643967002/|]

[MustLoveBeagles]

60. Interesting chart

Thanks for posting. I was surprised when I found out Elizabeth Warren's age. I thought she was in her late fifties at most.

[DCofVA]

57. If, in the unfortunate event, Warren isn't the Democratic Presidential nominee...

I, as a long-time Warren supporter, would much prefer her to stay in the Senate. If she isn’t the Presidential nominee, I want it to be one of the other candidates (like Warren) that can stand on their own. They don’t need the VP choice to prop them up.

[customerserviceguy]

58. One of the things the next Democratic president needs to do

is try to make sure the legacy of his/her presidency goes on after two terms. You do this by picking a person young enough to be president at any time in the next sixteen years.

[Gothmog]

59. We would lose Warren's seat in the Senate if she is VP and we win

Mass. has a GOP governor who would appoint a republican to replace her