The ages of the Democratic race’s two remaining contenders are becoming a central issue in the increasingly bitter primary fight, focusing more attention on their prospective running mates.
If elected, Joe Biden, 77, or Bernie Sanders, 78, would be the oldest president to hold office in history.
Since announcing his candidacy last April, Biden’s rambling oratory style and penchant for, intentionally or not, mixing up details in the stories he tells on the trail, have become a hallmark of his third White House bid. Sanders, meanwhile, had a heart attack last October but has refused to provide more health records.
Cesar Conda, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, said age was a “legitimate concern” with the pair.
“Given the advanced age of Biden and Sanders, I think the vice presidential choice will be crucial,” he told the Washington Examiner. “When he won in 1981, Ronald Reagan was 10 years younger than Biden is today. Age was a factor in 1981 and certainly again when Reagan ran for reelection in 1984.”
Biden and Sanders have been mum on potential running mates. But they’ve indicated they would want to offset their age and ethnicity on their hypothetical ticket for the general election.
For Conda, diversity was important if that person was also “ready to assume the office on day one, someone with executive experience and gravitas.” He floated Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the contest this week, given he couldn’t think of an option from November battleground states, such as Florida, Ohio, or Pennsylvania.
“Given all of the national security challenges facing the U.S. with China, in the Middle East, in the Western Hemisphere, we can’t afford to have a VP who needs on-the-job training,” he said.
Joel Goldstein, author of The White House Vice Presidency: The Path to Significance, Mondale to Biden, explained older presidential hopefuls had to weigh “succession concerns” with “achieving generational balance.” He compared Reagan’s and Bob Dole’s decisions to select George H.W. Bush and Jack Kemp, respectively, with those of Dwight Eisenhower, Bush, and John McCain. In order, the trio chose Richard Nixon, Dan Quayle, and Sarah Palin.
“This is the first time in recent decades that a Democratic nominee may be at the older end of the spectrum,” Goldstein said. “In other words, virtually all of the Democratic presidential nominees in that period were in their 40 and 50s, whereas Biden and Sanders are in their 70s and accordingly at the older end of the range, as is Donald Trump.”
Biden, in particular, describes himself as “an old guy” when asked by voters about his vice presidential shortlist. The people he’s mentioned range from Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren to Stacey Abrams, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Sally Yates, and even Michelle Obama or a Republican.
“But for me, it has to be demonstrated that whoever I pick is two things: One, is capable of [being] president because I’m an old guy,” Biden said in January.
“I released all my medical records,” Biden added, alluding to how he also has a heart condition. “But you never know. You never know what’s going on. And I’m sure what would happen is I have — some people looking would say, ‘Is the person Biden picked capable of, God forbid something happened to Biden, that they would be able to take over immediately?'”
Biden leads Sanders in the delegate count heading into Tuesday’s round of primaries in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and Washington. The two-term vice president has 596 to the Vermont senator’s 526. A total of 1,991 delegates are needed to secure the 2020 nomination outright.
