By Seth Tamarkin, Staff Writer
Despite President Trump’s consistently terrible approval ratings, the Democrats are in utter disarray on who will challenge him for the Presidency in 2020.
The Democratic establishment is worried that the two favorites to lead the party, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, will soon be octogenarians and do not represent, to quote Bernie, “the young people”.
With that mindset though, they risk missing the point on why those two are the frontrunners against Trump.
For starters, the party of inclusion seem surprisingly ageist. Republicans without a second thought elected the oldest President ever when Donald Trump won the election, yet the overwhelming narrative is that two democrats as old as Biden and Sanders could never have a shot.
When it comes to age, all the two candidates must do is show they are healthier and still witty compared to Donald Trump, which isn’t a hard thing to do.
Trump doesn’t believe in exercising because the human body has a “finite amount of energy”, and his tendency for off-topic rants during his speeches have people questioning his mental health daily.
Moreover, the Democrats are also scared that the two old, straight, white men could never drum up the support from millennials needed to secure a win.
This idea is laughable given that Bernie Sanders’ initial Presidential run served as a catalyst for many young diverse candidates running, and winning, democratic primaries like Andrew Gillum in Florida and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York.
On top of that, Washington Post reported that millennials, of every race, voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary more than they did Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton combined in the national election.
As for Joe Biden, his role as Vice President to the President who received the most votes for a “best President in my lifetime” poll from Newsweek helps too.
Obama was the most popular nationwide, but among millennials his administration received a staggering 62% of votes.
The Democratic Party is also well-aware that a Vice President can sway a whole election.
Joe Biden knows even better, given that he already played that role for voters who were concerned that Obama wasn’t experienced enough to take on John McCain.
Donald Trump realized that too when he nominated the passive Mike Pence to offset his belligerent personality. The same thing can happen if the two frontrunners choose a VP that shares their charisma and values while also being considerably younger.
If huge momentum, successful politicians around the country citing you as an inspiration, and a giant following does not spell it out for establishment Democrats, maybe their favorite pastime, incessant polling, will.
In every poll that has been released since 2016 comparing possible 2020 candidates, only two perpetually hold double digit leads over Trump.
Meanwhile, younger candidates like senators Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand, continually lose to Trump.
We live in an age where just saying you’re liberal and “look the part” don’t matter as much as having a good record and charisma to back it up.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one example of why those two attributes are important. The Supreme Court Justice is 84 years old but has become lionized recently by millennials and baby boomers alike.
In one of the many films about her life being released this year, writer Aminatou Sow explains that “millennials see what she has represented and fought for for decades and look up to that.”
For Bernie Sanders and Joe wBiden, that same theory rings true for them.
If you have been in public service for literal decades and have an impressive history of helping the disenfranchised or voting on the right side of history, it only makes sense that you would have a lot of support.
The Democrats should not be ashamed that their frontrunners are so old.
However, since there are going to be many younger candidates vying for the Presidency, hopefully they look into why the two octogenarians are the leaders of the party and channel that same energy.
PHOTO COURTESY: GOSSIP ON THIS