Why is our congress so old?

[Bicoastal]

I got a mild shock the other day when I went to the official government website to find out some statistics on our congressmen and women. The median age of the current (that is to say, outgoing) incarnation of the senate is 60.4 years--the oldest in its history! And while statistics on the House only goes back as far as the turn of the century, it turns out that their median age is ALSO the oldest on record (54). Now, we got rid of only one old-timer Senator this time around (Conrad Burns); most of the other seats that changed hands had no major age difference. Since the rest are two years older than they were in 2004, and with Byrd, Kennedy, Stevens, and others skewing the data upwards, I'd say the average for the senate at least is still hovering around 60.

Why the lack of youth? It got me thinking about an article I read in this week's Economist that stated that the primary difference between our revolution and the Rupublicans in '94 is that, aside from Obama, much of our leadership has been "around the block" already. And to some degree, they're right--nothing against Conyers, Waxman, Kennedy, and Byrd and others, but the reason why we trust them so much is because they've never betrayed our trust after all these years, not because of any sort of rockstar-like cult of personality. That was the Republican strategy in 1994, to bring in young, fresh-faced Reagan-worshipping conservatives like Santorum, who was 35 when he came in. In comparison, for all his vitality and charisma, Obama is 45.

Here's my hypothesis--people in my generation are still too liberal for the rest of the country, and we're in a minority position with the Baby Boomers and Busters still alive and kicking. Harold Ford was one of the Senate's few opportunities to bring the next generation of politicians--that is to say, congressmen and women born after 1970. Yet, despite the fact he tried to present himself as a conservative Democrat, he was taken down for incredibly anachronistic reasons--he was a Black man who went to a party. This just goes to show that the country isn't ready for the new generation of liberals just yet. I remember reading that people my age tend to be way more tolerant of the LGBT community than previous generations, and with our high numbers of college attendence, we'd be way more likely to scoff at backwards ideas like intelligent design and racial profiling. We were raised on PBS, went to school during the peaceful Clinton years and became adults right when Bush took office and everything seemed to go to hell. We now tune in to the Daily Show and Colbert Report when we want to catch up on current events, rather than watch the blathering talking heads duke it out on Fox. Even the polls acknowledge our propensity to vote Democratic over Republican. Despite all the news stories about ulta-conservative teens and "Jesus Camps", I'm convinced they're the exception that proves the rule--just hang on for another few years or so, and I believe you'll see a huge shift to the left in mainstream America, and with it, a whole slew of younger poltiicans to fill the seats vacated by the departing elderly.

[SheilaT]

1. Keep in mind that

the age requirements -- thirty to be a Representative, thirty-five to be a Senator -- will set a floor on the age of Congress. In the fifties it was a common joke that the reason no woman would ever become a Senator is that no woman would ever admit to being as old as thirty-five.

But you're right about the problem of old politicians, and I think you're equally correct that we're going to see a major shift to the liberal left in several more years.

[Daylin Byak]

3. Actually your wrong about the age

It's 25 to be a rep, 30 for senate and 35 to be prez and for the state legisture you have to be 21 in order to run for the state house here in my state(PA)

[SheilaT]

5. Oops.

Thank you for the correction. I went from memory, silly me, rather than looking it up.

So the joke was really about no woman willing to admit she was at least 30.

Thanks for the correction.

[Bicoastal]

4. Not true.

At least about the house. The Republican who was running against Henry Waxman was born in 1980--check CNN if you don't believe me. Anyway, I still think it's incredible that every other senate in our country's history has skewed lower. Most of our "younger" senators this time around are middle aged. Isn't it incredible that there are currently no senators younger than 45, and quite a few that are in their 70's?

[Odin2005]

12. The oldest Gen-Xers are 45 right now, so that might explain it.

As I said above, Gen-Xers tend to be fairly apolitical, Obama seems to be a refreshing exception.

[Withywindle]

16. The problem with that theory is...

...there are two other Senators born the same year as Obama (1961) and they're both right-wingers: David Vitter and John Thune. Definitely political--just not in the way we'd like.

[Odin2005]

17. Late boomers and the early Xers that are political definitely lean Right.

[question everything]

18. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota's new Senator Elect is 47 (nt)

[snowbear]

24. And Jon Tester is a very young 50!

[Imagevision]

2. They work 3 days (maybe) out of the week?!! there should be time constraints!

[Zyxx]

6. Congress demographic

The most disturbing thing about Congress, to me, is the fact that it doesn't truely
represent the demographic of the people of the U.S. It is still mostly filled with
white-men, just as it has since the beginning of our country. I wish we could incorperate
the differences of others into our body politic.

[hughee99]

7. The problem is, there's no way to implement that. n/t

[Kelly Rupert]

8. What would you suggest? Banning white males from office?

[Zyxx]

9. Congressional demographic

No to the contrary, energize minority bases. They have a voice too.
Sometimes, it seems, their voice gets lost in the good-ol'-boy structure
we have now. Not intending to bash white-males, but some other voices
in Congress have something important to say. The House of Represetatives
is the closest to the will of the people. The Senate is the personification
of the good-ol'-boy club. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but I believe
we all have something to gain from diversity in these institutions.

[Strelnikov_]

10. People Live Longer? n/t

[Odin2005]

11. One reason is that many Gen-Xers are fairly apolitical.

The main movers and shakers in the next 20 years will be the aging Boomers and us Millenial generation (people born after 1981) people, expect a major shift towards the left and towards FDR-style Big Government as more of us Millenials hit voting age. We are aproaching critical mass right now, it was 20-somethings that tilted the election in the Dems' favor in many areas.

Another think I notice is a suprising lack of Baby-Boomers in the Dem Congressional leadership, they are moslty Silent/Beatnik Generation people (people who came of age in the late 40's, 50's, and early 60's)

[Hippo_Tron]

20. I think that our generation should start by running for local school boards

If the age requirement is only 18 in some places, then you could theoretically have high school seniors sitting on the school board. Wouldn't that be a great way to reform education?

[Odin2005]

22. sure would.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Well I know that I'm pretty much "wiser" than I was when I was younger...

Not that I'm that old, mind you. But I think having a little experience in life under your belt may be helpful when you have the responsibility of making decisions that will affect others....although, come to think of it, the last few congress haven't proven out this theory--at all! :(

[wordpix]

14. in my district, we got rid of old bag Nancy Johnson & replaced her with 33 y.o. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

He's become like a rock star here and his star will rise in Congress, too! :woohoo:

[Lexingtonian]

15. don't forget

that median age of voters is 50 to 55. That demographic is 80% white and biases substantially against women in leadership positions. The wealth and aggregate/group power disparity between white and minority people is also substantially greater than in people who are younger.

Our leaders do reflect the demographics of their voters, for better or for worse.

[question everything]

19. At least about members of the House, you can thank the districts

that favored incumbents - of both parties. This means that they rarely face challengers in their own party and then they just sail through.

[Jennicut]

21. Bicoastal You just described me!

Your interpretation of our age group was really correct, at least to me. I will be 31 in December. Clinton became president when I was a junior in high school and I have been a moderate to liberal Dem since then. All of my friends are more tolerant towards gays and lesbians, more intolerant of racism and we all watch Daily Show/Colbert and K.O. although I also watch Tweety/Scarborough for laughs. I think the Gen X's in their early 30's and late 20's are alot like you described. Even my husband was never political until Gore lost in 2000. He was so turned off by that and by Bush that he really got interested in politics. I think its harder for younger people to run for congress, especially the Senate, as its so expensive and you need to have contacts with certain people. At least the new congressman in my district, Chris Murphy is only 33 (and is from my hometown of Cheshire, CT!). He represents some generational change in the House. I wonder about the ages of other new housemembers. Heath Shuler (Colorado?) seems young too.

[snowbear]

23. Heath Shuler (D) North Carolina is only 35....

....

[Donald Ian Rankin]

25. Senate, from the latin "senex", meaning "an old man".

It may not be true that wisdom comes with age, but it's certainly widely perceived to be the case.

Building up reputation, experience, allies, etc to run for the Senate or Congress takes time.