I am just a few months younger than Amy Klobuchar, 58, which in my view seems like the optimum age to be president. We have earned our grey hairs and crow's feet but usually still remember where we put the car keys.
While I did not like the manner in which Julian Castro berated
Joe Biden for being forgetful in the last debate, he did raise a salient point. And this is not the first time it has come up in the campaign. What rankles me, though, is why does someone this age think they have the right to the highest office in the country? I am including Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in this. Elizabeth Warren is several years younger, and clearly energetic and vibrant.
My point is that if one genuinely cares about the nation and its people, they want to be sure they can care for us for four or eight years. I think of my late mother, may she rest in peace, and how she took in a kitten in her mid-70s. I immediately started to worry about what would happen to that cat if we lost Mom. Turns out, I was right, and neither my brother nor I could keep Susie and she ended up with a family I'll never meet. That breaks my heart.
I am the first to admit that aging is difficult. I have spent eight months on the job market even after earning my M.A. with Merit from an elite university. Would this be the case if I were 38? No. But how can I prove ageism and even if I could, would it matter? So I have gone from trying to understand what Hume meant in "Dialogues" to figuring out which outfits and hairstyles make me look most youthful. This is humiliating. Yet, what choice do I have? So it boggles my mind to think someone 20 years my senior is not just searching for a journalism or teaching job, but feels entitled to the Presidency.
Men in particular seem to think they can rule the world forever. I want a candidate who will improve the country and keep us safe, like Beto. I don't want a candidate who sniffs women's hair and relies on his years of service with an exceptional younger president to bolster his own CV. It won't fly for me, and it won't improve America.
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