U.S. Sen. Ed Markey secured the Democratic nomination in Massachusetts’ Senate primary Tuesday, once again fending off a push for generational change as he seeks a third term.
Markey, 80, defeated U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, who had attempted to argue that it was time to do away with the “status quo” in his pursuit to oust the octogenarian.
Yet Markey successfully pointed to Moulton’s more moderate positions to argue that it was Moulton — not the older incumbent — who was out of touch with the state’s voters. Perhaps no other issue defined the race more than transgender rights, and Markey repeatedly hit Moulton for previously saying he would not want his daughters to play against transgender athletes.
That’s fair. Looks like I need to investigate this further.
It’s possible I’ve been consuming too much rational optimist type of stuff. What tends to come up a lot in this kind of literature is that the average lifespan is increasing, as a general trend. So when I see the possibility of not only lifespan being extended, but health span, I wonder at the constant drumbeat to start imposing things like arbitrary age limits on politicians, which is likely to trickle down to people in other roles, at a time when people, more than ever, may be retaining their capabilities (along with the wisdom and the job experience) into much older years on average.
Or when I see people clamoring to “fix” Social Security by making people take those benefits at a later age at almost the exact same time they are talking about pushing people out of work.
I’m not saying you are making those arguments, mind you.