I agree with Howard Dean

[cilla4progress]

(We)older Americans need to get out the way in 2020!

[Me.]

1. I Think We Need To Stop Using Qualifers

sexism, ageism and any other ism. This latest meme of older citizens being in the way is disheartening...who's next?

[msongs]

2. turn it over to the younger crowd....who has the lowest voting turnout lol nt

[Me.]

5. And What's The Cut Off Point

49, 50....is 55 too close to death or dementia. Let whoever wants to earn their way without the so-called necessity of pushing others out of the way.

[herding cats]

22. Ive been wondering this, too.

It’s been a source of much conversation in my family. Just where do we make the break? My daughter thinks Obama is young as a politician, she’s a millennial. Yet, Obama is older than I am, so where do we make the cutoff if we’re all about having one?

I’m not sure this is the finite thing some think it is. I think it may vary depending on the person and their connection to various demographics.

Edit: I should just add this to my sig... I cannot get apostrophes to post in my subject line. I suspect it’s an Apple thing, my apologies.

[oberliner]

3. So sick of the ageism

So many great older Americans who have so much to contribute.

[DemocracyMouse]

18. AGREE!!! Ageism is shallow, mean and wrongheaded

Selfish employers after 9/11 and then during the Great Recession killed economic and creative opportunities for me on the basis of perceived scarcity... I'm just getting my life back and the last thing I need are selfish Americans of any age taking my life NOW on the basis of my age.

I'm so sick of the lack of empathy and caring in this society. It has been so predatory, so mean, so heartless.

[cilla4progress]

4. I dont care!!

The young, women, POC... time for quietened voices to take over running things. We can consult!

[Me.]

6. Who Has Quietened Any Voices?

They sound pretty loud and strong to me except when they're not interested and there seem to be a number of them.

[jaysunb]

7. I agree w/ Dr. Dean

the engaged of the younger generation should put forth someone they can get behind. They'll motivate each other and us boomers need to get the hell out of the way of THEIR future.

Just this has been 2cents worth.

[cilla4progress]

8. I wonder if those who think young people

don’t care, know any?

[qwlauren35]

10. Interesting that you say that.

I was at an insurance talk a few weeks ago, and the man said that the 20-30 demographic has the most insurance. I think young people are preparing for the end of Social Security, and that's pretty proactive. So, the question is "what do they care about". Someone recently said that it was hard to win over voters when their needs were so immediate or personal. "My wife left me." No aspect of the government can help with that.

If you look at Black Lives Matter, that is evidence of something that young people care about, and are willing to do something about. You just can't dismiss those young people, or say they don't care. They just care about something different. And frankly, government may not be in a position to address the issue.

I am happy to get out of the way, I am happy to consult. I sense that if I asked a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds what matters to them politically, I may be very surprised by the answer.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. He's right.

I am constant exasperated by those here who enthusiastically tout various people who are already at least 70 as candidates for 2020. No. No. No. Whoever we put up in that election year needs to be a GenXer, NOT a Boomer. We Boomers (I'm one of them, born in 1948) need to step aside, let the younger generations move into place. We can be elder statesmen.

And please read the book "Generations" by William Strauss and Neil Howe for a deeper understanding.

[doc03]

11. I am one of them also, born 1948. I agree with

you. I think boomers have already done enough to f---- up the country.

[ffr]

12. I disagree. We need to shelf our personal petty differences and put the team first

Look at California politics right now. They have a democratic supermajority and the state is thriving, the government is thriving, positive things are getting done. Their governor is 79 years old!

Plus, we need wisdom from our leadership, otherwise the oldschool republicans will pull dirty tricks to stonewall democratic bills and progress.

On the national level, we're the minority, ruled ruthlessly by vindictive butthole republicans. THEY are the enemy, not young v. old democrats.

[JNelson6563]

13. No more boomers.

[SHRED]

14. Dean needs to stop pandering

He's good at just hammering truth.
He should stick with that. Cold hard truth.

[RainCaster]

15. BULLSHIT! We should ALL be involved.

The black women in Alabama taught us that.

[patphil]

16. I disagree

Get out of the way of what?
Just because I am old does not preclude my having a voice in all that is going on.
Because I am old I have seen quite a bit. I saw the horrors of the VietNam war that killed so many, including several people I knew. I've experienced the murder of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I watched as Nixon was forced to leave office for his part in Watergate. I watched as Reagan cut a deal with the Iranians and ended up as our president. I watched as papa Bush lied us into war in Iraq. I watched as president Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, deliberately bombed the Chinese embassy and destroyed Glass-Stegal.
I watched as our government engineered the destruction of the Trade Towers. I watched as so many were killed in Iraq and Afganistan.
I saw an idiot president declare victory on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
I saw a black man elected president and was stunned at the hatred that was directed toward him by my relatives.
I saw an election stolen by a man who I have know for years to be a worthless sack of s**t who only lived to satisfy his need for money, power and praise.
I have seen the father of lies in the oval office.
I have come too far and seen too much.
So, I am not getting out of the way.
Howard Dean does not speak for me, nor do I follow his direction.

Patrick Phillips

[ucrdem]

17. Welcome patphil!

Very nicely put and I happen to agree with you. Age shouldn't be a disqualifier if a candidate can still keep an energetic schedule. Both Hillary and Biden have recently written and launched books and made the usual round of interviews. These days people are living longer, particularly people with good insurance, and younger candidates who haven't battled the VRWC every day are in for a rude awakening. If there's another Bill or Barack out there, great, let's nominate him/her, but otherwise let's let voters decide.

[DemocracyMouse]

19. Bravo Patrick!

All voices count and those with perspective – of any age – should not be ostracized from the village. Are progressive Americans now becoming as shallow and proto-Fascist as Bush II, Trump, Fox, Breitbart, etc? What is going on in our culture???

[ucrdem]

20. Exactly.

Demographically speaking the country is aging and this is no time to toss half the electorate under the bus. Trump is the oldest president yet -- surpassing Reagan's age in office -- and while he has many problems old age doesn't seem to be one of them.

And welcome!

[Awsi Dooger]

21. I agree also

When the bench is that old it's not a bench. It's a rocking chair.

Young people are desperate to reject Trump but you have to give them an alternative they can get passionately behind. Otherwise we are at extreme jeopardy of underestimating the power of incumbency, and the benefit of a doubt applied. I was here in 2004 when nobody wanted to believe George Bush would be re-elected.

For years on football forums I've argued that it makes no sense the head coaches are so old, and that so few very young coaches are given that opportunity. Finally we have a Sean McVay doing great things at age 31 for the Rams.

We need to do the same type of thing...nominate someone at the low end of the age range, like early 40s. Gamble on greatness. It would be such a favorable contrast to Trump and his mid 70s frumpy lying fear.

That young president would provide surreal margin for error going forward, if he/she were successful in office. You'd have a 20 year block of voters with heavy Democratic tilt, beginning with those who turned 18 when Bush was so unpopular post-Katrina.

[herding cats]

23. Ok, whats older?

That’s extremely relative.

Also, qualifications and experience should be major factors. Not just their rhetoric, but what have they accomplished? My daughter tells me words are cheap, actions are proof. Who reaches her?

[Sherman A1]

24. I respectfully suggest that the Esteemed Mr Dean

Do as he wishes and I am fully capable of making my own choices and decisions. He has a right to his opinion and I have a right to mine which is currently not in agreement with the path he suggests.