As the primary season nears for the election of the next President of the United States in 2012, the field has narrowed to one candidate on the Democratic side, incumbent President Barack Obama, and seven contenders among the Republicans.
The Democrats fit somewhat uneasily under the liberal label, and Republicans are generally known as conservative, but one clear distinction can be made from the ages of the remaining candidates.
President Obama was one of the youngest Presidents ever elected, and remains a young man in political terms. He is 49 years old of this writing, and will turn 50 before the 2012 election.
The Republicans have given us an older crowd to choose from. In some cases, much older (in no particular order):
- Jon Huntsman is 51 years old.
- Newt Gingrich, 68
- Michelle Bachmann, 55
- Rick Perry, 61
- Ronald Paul, 76
- Mitt Romney, 64
- Rick Santorum, 53
Are the Republicans Too Old?
Obama is clearly on the younger side of the Baby Boom generation, an era that some have termed Generation Jones. The Republicans span that era, and some of the older candidates were around for World War II.
Ron Paul, considered one of the more progressive candidates, is the oldest, and would be the oldest candidate to go to the White House. Ronald Reagan, the 40th US President, was 69 when he was elected in 1981.
Life expectancies continue to increase for US citizens, but Ron Paul is already over the US male average of 75.7, and Gingrich would be past it by the end of his second term.
The others on the list can still be considered young, in relative terms, but even Mitt Romney would be over the normal retirement age, that is, eligible for full payments on Social Security and complete coverage under Medicare early in his first term.
So, the question is whether the Republicans can put forward a candidate that can compete with the still youthful exuberance of Barack Obama. Huntsman and Santorum are still long shots, not well known to the general public. Bachmann carries a great deal of baggage from her Tea Party background and right wing religious beliefs.
Perry has helped to implode his campaign; Paul has little following outside a core group of progressives and libertarians, not to mention his age. Gingrich has a long history of partisan politics as well the generation gap issue.
The most likely nominee and current front runner is Mitt Romney, who still presents a youthful vitality. But, even if he is elected President, will have four hard years and a prospect of re-election at age 69. Democrats shouldn’t despair even if they lose this election, as the prospects for a one term Republican President look pretty high.
