Too old

My friend Pat is still vigorous and trail-hiking at age 83, but he’s unsparing about aging.

“You may not be old when you’re in your 70s,” he said over lunch, “but when you’re in your 80s, you’re old.”

Donald Trump is pushing 80, and showing it. He’s doing what he accused President Biden of doing: covering it up.

Literally.

The New York Times reported, “He is often sporting a large, purple bruise on his right hand, which he sometimes slathers with makeup” (photo).

Noting the Labor Day weekend rumors that Trump had died, The Times said he “had nothing on his public schedule for three days last week…. His ankles are swollen. He is the oldest person to be elected president.”

The paper was blunt: “He is old. At the end of his second term, he would be 82 years old, and months older than Mr. Biden was when he left office.”

Democrats still hold a grudge against the Times and other media for harping on Biden’s age.

But it was a real issue and a real problem.

Presidents define their parties, and voters’ image of the Democratic Party is that pale, frail and floundering figure on the debate stage in June 2024.

Worse, Americans believe Democrats lied, denied and covered up Biden’s decline.

At lunch, Pat wondered why politicians hang on too long.

“Power,” I said. “They can’t give it up.”

The more power they have, the more they want to keep it.

The dictators of China and Russia, Xi and Putin, were caught on a hot mic this week musing about living forever – and, presumably, staying in power forever.

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un was listening in eagerly.

The New Yorker has a creepy story about rich guys spending millions exploring how to live forever, or at least to 150.

Back in the ‘60s, my generation didn’t trust anybody over 30.

Now we want to hang on into our 80s.

Some politicians have gotten the message.

Long-time New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, who’s 78, announced he’s stepping down, saying “the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that.”

Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81, isn’t running for reelection: “It is now time for me to pass the baton.” She praised “new voices” that are “so sharp, so articulate, so self-assured. It’s wonderful.”

As Democrats search for new life, we should search for new leaders.

The future belongs to the party that embraces the future, instead of clinging to the past.

Let Republicans cling to Trump.

Let’s ring out the old, and ring in the new.