Tik Tok, your time is up
The political Old Guard needs a reality check
I am old.
And we are well past the point where that line gets a laugh. I tell people I’m 75 and take a slight pause to let them react with shock and amazement.
The silence is deafening.
A guy at Pickleball said, “You look a little like someone famous.”
“Really?”
“Keith Richards,” he said. “Do you get that a lot?”
So, bona fides established, I’d like to weigh in on the increasingly bitter push to get the old guard out of American politics and give the smart, young voices a chance.
It’s the right call of course.
Members of the highest offices in the land are often WAAAAY past their sell-by dates.
We loved the late Dianne Feinstein, a great American and true San Franciscan. But geez, there at the end she didn’t look or sound like she knew where she was.
And, with multiple books coming out in the next few weeks about President Joe Biden — and apparently all the of them saying that he was more out of it than anyone knew — the discussion is only going to heat up.
Although the wheezer core is certainly not limited to Democrats, they are the ones doing more of the hand-wringing. The Biden debacle, compounded by the sick-to-the-pit-of-your-stomach Donald Trump win, has Demos in a state.
And again, they’re right.
You could say 74-year-old Sen. Chuck Schumer, senate Minority leader, is catching strays because he’s a victim of the way the times have changed.
But c’mon. Schumer’s half-staff glasses have gone from a trademark quirk to a laugh prop for Jon Steward on the Daily Show. (See above.)
Schumer can shake his fists and call pressers, but the Chuck Train has left the station.
Time to move on.
And yes, it would be wonderful if a Democratic Colossus arose and united the sensible majority of Americans. Instead, we may have to endure a little drama — but hey, who’s better at drama than the Dems?
The key is, new people and fresh ideas is not a radical position.
Steve the barber and I solved part of the problem this morning during a haircut.
“Term limits,” he said, unprompted. “I do think you need some time on the job. And maybe 16 years is too much. But I’d go for 12.”
I’d buy that. You’d have a chance to shoot your shot. And when the 12 is up you’d probably be — what? — late 50s or early 60s. And we’re betting here there would be jobs available if you really wanted to work until you can’t work any more.
Because there’s the problem . . .
We’re seeing this with Biden. He went from: isn’t it adorable that he’s so fiesty and refuses to give in? To : how are we going to convince him it is time to head for the door?
Part of it is that we (again, speaking from experience here) like to think of ourselves as the exception to the rule. And we get praise for ignoring our age. Still playing golf? Isn’t that great?
But we also push back on the hints and nudges. My wife has been talking about hearing aids for a bit. And most of my same-age friends have them.
But, I insist, I’ll know if my hearing is going. I hear fine. (Not always the first time someone says something, especially in a crowded room, but fine.)
So, although I consider myself the soul of realistic thought, I know I’m older. My balance is tippier. And I find that the golf ball sometimes disappears in the sky,
Still I reflexively push back on markers that remind me how old I am.
Which, I think, is what we are seeing with the old guard. They see a virtue in hanging in there, bringing those years of experience. They’re fine.
Unfortunately, that’s not what the country thinks. This Biden hangover is going to persist. We listened to that happy chat about how he was sharp as ever. And when we found the awful truth — and will be reminded of it repeatedly as the books roll out — there is a sense of betrayal.
It could get ugly.
Schumer’s “now, now, let’s all just calm down” approach has flopped badly. When he caved to the Republicans to provide enough Senate Democratic votes to avoid a government shutdown, he was called out to his face.
One up-and-comer, Congressman Greg Gasar from Texas, who is touted by former Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki, made it pretty clear who he was talking about.
Casar, from Austin, is 35.
Schumer, and others, must be hearing footsteps.
But here’s the thing. It doesn’t have to be a bloodbath.
People step away all the time. They don’t have to leave the job, just give up a little space.
The real wisdom for someone like Schumer is to realize the earth has shifted. As a politician, you need a Tik Tok presence and a podcast sensibility. You want to be filming a selfie, walking down the hall.
The oldies can try it, but trust me, it is VERY easy to look needy and foolish. Let it go. You had a good run.
Now suck it up, step aside and Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. The. Way.
Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. X and Threads: @cwnevius
Yep. I'll be your age in a few months -- which means, essentially, I already am -- and although I'm still in pretty good shape, still ride my motorcycle, still climb my 20 foot extension ladder to trim trees around my house, and still split and stack firewood for a month every summer to burn in my wood stove during the winter, I know damed well I've lost a step or three. I worked a very physical job for 40 years and didn't retire at 66 because I really wanted to, but because I had to -- my mind could still write those on-the-job checks, but my body wasn't interested in cashing them. But the beauty of a job like that is ... you know when it's time to quit. All politicians do is talk for a living, and everybody knows how those of us of a certain age like to bloviate, so a political lifer seldom hears the tolling of that bell.
The Dems are seen as old and sclerotic, and for good reason -- if they don't change that perception by altering the reality, we'll be under the yoke of lunatic right wing zealots until the end of time.