Biden's Cancer and a Lawmaker's Death Keep Focus on Democrats' Age Problem

New York Times

22-05-2025

In the last three months alone, three Democratic House members have died in office, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced a serious cancer diagnosis and a new book stoked fresh scrutiny of his declining abilities while serving as commander in chief.
For a party struggling with a litany of problems, perhaps no subject in recent years has been more painful, delicate or politically perilous than the matter of age — an issue that keeps rearing its head in 2025 as party leaders now acknowledge the problem but remain hesitant to directly call out aging colleagues.
The subject arose yet again on Wednesday, as the family of Representative Gerald E. Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, announced that he had died at 75. He was the sixth House Democrat to die in office in the last year or so, according to what the House press gallery calls its 'casualty list' of deaths, resignations and retirements.
Just a few months ago, Mr. Connolly beat out one of the youngest members of Congress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 35, in an internal contest to lead their party on the House Oversight Committee. He said at the time that the idea that there was generational change underway in the caucus was a 'false narrative.'
His death, after a public battle with esophageal cancer, prompted an outpouring of grief from colleagues. But as Democrats strain to project energy in fighting President Trump, some in the party also saw it as another harsh reminder of the risks the party faces when it prizes seniority and loyalty above all else.
Former Representative Joe Cunningham, 42, a South Carolina Democrat, supports age and term limits for political office and publicly urged Mr. Biden not to seek re-election. In an interview, he spoke warmly about Mr. Connolly.
But, he said, emphasizing that he was speaking more broadly, 'a lot of these elected officials should have another escape hatch from politics other than death.'
'You can take a look at folks who are up there, who've been up there for 30, 40, 50 years, and say, 'Look, it's probably best time that you move on and create a bit of a room for some new leadership,'' he said. 'Considering where the Democratic Party is now, I think it's a big problem.'
He cited the deaths of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and alluded to Mr. Biden's decision to seek a second term, which he would have concluded at the age of 86.
Polling long showed that voters, including many Democrats, had grave worries about Mr. Biden's age and believed he was too old to seek re-election. But party leaders defended him and went to great lengths to emphasize his vigor. They changed course only after a disastrous debate roughly four months before Election Day, when it was too late for a robust and competitive primary campaign.
All of those issues are being re-litigated now with the release of the book 'Original Sin' by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, which aims to illuminate how Mr. Biden's advisers shut down discussion of his age-related limitations.
'All of that hammers home how important it is to have this conversation in public, even when it's messy, even when it's walking over land mines, even when it can feel painful, because we can't assume that it's happening in private,' said Amanda Litman, who leads Run for Something, a progressive group that recruits younger Democrats to seek local office. 'We can't assume that the individual elected is going to know when it's their time.'
She praised several older Democrats who have decided to retire on their own terms.
'They are being patriots, and when they do move on, they open up the floodgates for new leaders up and down the ballot,' she said. 'The ones that are refusing are being primaried, and those primaries are going to be personal. Like, it's not going to be a fun primary that they're going to romp to victory on.'
Mr. Connolly, for his part, had said late last month that he would not seek re-election and would step aside from his leadership position on the Oversight Committee.
In a statement, Mr. Connolly's family emphasized a long list of his accomplishments during his decades in public service.
'We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose and his passion,' the statement said. 'We are proud that his life's work will endure for future generations.'
While voters and pundits often express enthusiasm for term limits or age limits, a common practice in the corporate world, many politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to recoil from the idea, stressing instead the value of experience.
And concerns about age are nothing new in Congress, where Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a Republican and for decades an avowed segregationist, stoked questions about his health and abilities toward the end of his nearly half-century in office. (He died at age 100 and was eulogized by Mr. Biden.)
More recently, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has had several health scares. He stepped down as his party's leader and plans to retire. Mr. Trump will be 79 next month and has faced his own questions about age.
Some next-generation Democrats are already thinking about the next presidential primary race, which is expected to be a raucous and crowded contest featuring a long list of younger party leaders.
But first, the party owes voters a transparent conversation about age, suggested Mr. Cunningham, whose state is likely to be influential in deciding Democrats' 2028 nominee.
'Now, even, some people say it's not a good time to speak out, but this is a family meeting that needs to occur,' he said. 'The party has to go through some form of counseling or something. You know? Like, these areas have to be acknowledged, and there has to be some honest conversations.'