A column penned for CNN noted the Democratic presidential primary field and the success of older, white, male candidates as expressing the “enduring power of aging, white men.”
Pointing to candidates Joe Biden, 77, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 77, the article notes the contrast of the men with the general direction of the party. “It’s of a piece with a deeper stress in the Democratic race: The party is growing diversity-wise, but in important ways it’s still marked by septuagenarian white men,” wrote Brandon Tensley, a CNN Politics writer.
Tensley noted recent Hollywood productions Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and The Irishman as notable examples of older, white men being aged out of their respective professions and struggling to stay relevant. By contrast, however, Tensley noted that top Democratic candidates for president don’t experience the same fate.
In a recent interview with Gayle King after launching his presidential campaign, Tensley noted Bloomberg’s dismissal over concerns that his age and race might make him appear out of step with the party. “Maybe,” Bloomberg said at the time. “But lots of people can enter. If you wanted to enter and run for president of the United States, you could’ve done that. But don’t complain to me that you’re not in the race. It was up to you.”
The article cited a recent awkward moment on the campaign trail in which former Biden verbally sparred with a citizen who questioned whether he was too old to run for office. “You wanna check my shape on it, let’s do push-ups together, man. Let’s run; let’s do whatever you wanna do,” Biden said defiantly to the man.
“Despite Biden’s at times questionable relevance, the former vice president’s position in the polls has remained steady,” Tensley wrote. “That’s to an extent due to the hazy sense of ease he telegraphs to some voters; how he registers as having the ‘right’ profile — older, white, male — to trounce President Donald Trump (who, notably, is 73) in a high-stakes political contest.”
The article concludes with a defense of the Democrats despite their perceived lack of diversity. “This isn’t to beat up on the Democratic Party over its image problem,” the author wrote. “Rather, it’s to highlight how, for a party for whom diversity isn’t gloss, it still struggles mightily to reflect its base in a meaningful manner.”
