Barack Obama slams establishment Dems as too old, out of touch, ‘not connected’ to ordinary people

We are living in a gerontocracy. In both parties, the elderly cling to power, determined to decide the futures of younger people and blocking anyone who tries to prise their bony fingers off their safe seats.

But it’s perhaps safe to say the Democrats have this problem more than Republicans. Nancy Pelosi is 85, Chuck Schumer is 74, Richard Durbin is 80, Elizabeth Warren is 75, heck, even good ol’ Bernie Sanders is 84!

And, of course, there was the catastrophic decision for establishment Democrats to spend months insisting that a clearly declining 81-year-old Joe Biden was the only choice to run against Trump in 2024. And we all know how that worked out…

Now Barack Obama – no spring chicken himself at 64 – has called out Democrats for remaining in power for so long that they damage the party. Speaking with YouTuber Brian Michael Cohen, he said:

“I’m a pretty healthy 64, feel great, but the truth is, half of the references that my daughters make about social media, TikTok and such, I don’t know who they’re talking about. There is an element of, at some point, you age out. You’re not connected directly to the immediate struggles that folks are going through.”

“At some point, you age out”

Obama explained that the Democrats need candidates and politicians who will actually have to live in the future they create:

“I’m not making a hard and fast rule here, but I do think that Democrats do well when we have candidates who are plugged into the moment, to the zeitgeist, to the times and the particular struggles that folks are thinking about as they look towards the future, rather than look backward toward the past,”

A 2023 poll indicates that 80% of Americans agree that there should be maximum age limits for elected officials, with 74% agreeing that there should also be a maximum age limit for Supreme Court Judges.

It’s difficult to see a reasonable argument to the contrary. Why should people who will almost certainly be dead within five or ten years be making decisions about matters that will affect people for decades to come? For example, it’s very easy for a politician in their 80s to vote for policies that’ll damage the environment – they won’t have to live on a ruined and boiling planet!

But it’s unlikely that these Democrat dinosaurs are going to quietly relinquish power. In fact, quite the opposite, as they do their best to squash any upstart young progressive politician who dares question the party line. So, we’re with Obama on this, we need politicians with a stake in the future rather than their own petty interests!