参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔的令人担忧的健康事件本周，关于年龄的争论又增加了一个，这个问题已经主导了竞选活动。

尽管目前还不清楚81岁的麦康奈尔在新闻发布会上出现冻结的原因，但这仍然促使候选人和选民再次问:多大年纪的人不适合担任民选官员，更不用说在白宫工作了?

38岁的维韦克·拉马斯瓦米(Vivek Ramaswamy)是第一个竞选共和党提名的千禧一代，他周四在爱荷华州市政厅后表示，“我确实认为，这个国家迫切需要一位能够给下一代带来激励年轻人的积极愿景的领导人。”

51岁的共和党候选人妮基·黑利直言不讳，称美国参议院是“全国最有特权的疗养院”在福克斯新闻频道.

“真让人难过。没有人应该对此感到高兴，就像我们不应该对看到黛安娜·范斯坦或看到乔·拜登的衰落感到高兴一样，”她在谈到这位资深加州参议员和现任总统时说。“你必须知道什么时候离开。”

2023年8月23日，维维克·拉马斯瓦米和妮基·黑利在威斯康星州密尔沃基的Fiserv论坛上参加了福克斯新闻主办的共和党初选的第一场辩论。

赢得麦克纳米/盖蒂图片社

他们对年龄的关注似乎反映了大部分选民的担忧。根据美联社-NORC公共事务研究中心的最新数据，77%的公众，包括69%的民主党人，认为80岁的乔·拜登太老了，不能连任投票。这些选民中的大多数(51%)认为77岁的唐纳德·特朗普只比拜登小三岁，也太老了，不适合当总统。

“正如你现在看到的，我们有一些80多岁的主要政治家——这有很大的不同。当他们开始失去他们的[能力]时，他们应该不得不辞职或退休或诸如此类。但是我们需要这样的政府，这样我们才能有一个好政府，好的政府，好的政府，好的政府，好的政府。我们对总统有任期限制，为什么国会没有呢?”来自爱荷华州锡达拉皮兹的85岁老人马克斯·哈根问道。

在过去五个月的竞选活动中，在与美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的谈话中，选民们经常对拜登、特朗普、麦康奈尔和其他年长的政治家的年龄表示担忧。

62岁的退休UPS工作人员兰迪·欧文(Randy Ervin)本周在爱荷华州牛顿市为参议员蒂姆·斯科特(Tim Scott)举行的一场竞选活动中说，“这个国家的政治状况令人难过，很多人都是终身政治家。”。

“我认为米奇是一个很好的例子。伟大的人，本意是好的，但他正处于人生的某个阶段，他需要照顾自己，而不是处于那个位置……有时我也不太确定(拜登)知道自己在做什么。再说一遍，他是一个终身政治家。他在做对他和他的政党正确的事情，而不一定是对国家正确的事情，这让我很困扰。”

共和党候选人的选择

在她的总统竞选活动中，Haley提出了要求对75岁以上的政治家进行智力测试的想法。她经常表示支持任期限制的想法，以诱导当选官员之间的“代际变化”，并认为任何共和党人都不会在2024年的大选中与乔·拜登竞争，而是很可能与未来的卡玛拉·哈里斯总统竞争，这是一个关于年迈总统预期寿命的毫不掩饰的建议。

在一个采访在第一次共和党辩论后，美国广播公司新闻的乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯(George Stephanopoulos)在“早安美国”节目中表示，如果特朗普被判有罪，她将支持他，因为“我不喜欢卡玛拉·哈里斯总统”，指的是拜登的副总统和竞选伙伴。

哈利坚持认为，拜登“不可能”完成他的任期，理由是他的年龄和最近他的健康状况“下降”。

周四，她再次呼吁进行心理能力测试，建议即使是她自己年龄组的候选人也应该接受筛选。

“我不在乎他们是否超过50岁，”哈利在福克斯新闻频道上说。“但是这些人正在对我们的国家安全做出决定。他们正在对我们的经济和边境做出决定。”

共和党候选人也很大程度上支持任期限制。

64岁的前副总统迈克·彭斯支持这个想法。今年7月，44岁的佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)表示，他支持限制任期，为领导层的代际更替留出空间，此前麦康奈尔在国会山发表讲话时首次公开明显冻结了任期。

德桑蒂斯说:“你可以说是在盛年服役，然后把接力棒传给下一代。”。“我认为这一代人并不真的愿意这么做。听着，我和拜登竞选的原因之一是，我的意思是，天哪，我们需要行政部门的能量，你知道，我们需要一些活力和生机，”德桑蒂斯告诉保守派人士梅根·凯利。

“我认为大多数年轻的保守派会说，他们总体上赞成某种指导方针和一些任期限制。”26岁的乔·米切尔说，他是保守派Run GenZ组织的创始人，也是爱荷华州前议员，是有史以来最年轻的爱荷华州众议员。

美国广播公司新闻频道在竞选活动中采访的共和党选民认为拜登的年龄是他们认为他不适合当总统的一个关键原因。

“我认为‘乔·拜登’太老了，不适合当总统，”天普大学19岁的学生杰克逊·伦尼克斯说。“他已经从政大约47年了。我们希望看到年轻一代的新思想，以及——他的精神状态不适合服役，就像他有时真的不能说出一句话。”

大多数民主党选民，当选官员淡化拜登的年龄

在民主党人当中，拜登的年龄作为连任问题经常被当选官员淡化，他们指出，“更广泛的问题”在大选期间将更加重要。

“当人们审视一名候选人时，无论是乔·拜登、川普、伯尼·桑德斯还是其他任何人，他们都必须评估一系列因素，”81岁的独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯在2020年与拜登竞选总统。在全国广播公司的“会见新闻界”节目中说八月下旬。

“五六周前，我会见了主席，我们进行了一次很好的讨论，在我看来，他很好。但我认为，归根结底，我们必须问自己的是，人们代表什么?你相信女人有权控制自己的身体吗?总统在这一点上一直很强硬...年龄是一个问题，查克，但还有很多更广泛的问题。”

一些选民表示同意。

“我认为乔·拜登是这个国家的好管家...他们试图找到任何弱点，因为他已经80多岁了。那又怎样?那没什么区别。来自亚利桑那州七叶树市的桑迪·修卡说:“他现在是合适的人选。

54岁的明尼苏达州众议员迪恩·菲利普斯就是其中之一直言不讳的民主党人对拜登年龄的担忧即将迎来紧张的2024年大选。

“我喜欢乔·拜登。我认为他是一个正派、有能力的人。他的记录非同寻常。我投了赞成票。我帮忙推销和分发它。我非常喜欢他。但我也相信，我的工作不局限于总统、我的政党，而是宪法和国家，现在我有严重的担忧，”菲利普斯上个月在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)上说，他敦促其他民主党人加入到拜登的初选中来。

“我害怕。如果你愿意的话，我想敲响这口钟，让它成为响亮的号角。”

根据美联社-NORC民意调查在那些认为乔·拜登年龄太大，无法继续有效担任总统的人中，只有14%的人希望看到他寻求第二个任期。

一些民主党选民也不怕向他们党的旗手表达担忧。

“他的年龄是我最关心的问题，我认为除非有更好的解决方案或更好的候选人，否则他显然是我的选择，”密歇根州兰辛市UAW本地724的总裁托德·科林斯说。

拜登在4月份发起连任竞选活动后表示，他尊重美国人“认真审视”他的年龄是否是一个因素，并决定他是否适合连任。

尽管最近有人呼吁限制领导层的任期和年龄，但65岁及以上的美国人在大多数州形成了最大的投票群体。

从现在到2040年，老年人口预计将增长44%，而18至64岁的人口仅增长6%。根据记者威廉·j·科尔在他的书《大100人:超级老龄化的新世界》中的说法，这些老人中的许多人对于让年长的政治家继续执政不会有任何疑虑

“[拜登]在担任总统的两年里，为这个国家和人民的福祉所做的事情，比我记忆中任何一位总统都多。他似乎真的说到点子上了。我想让他做的事他都做了吗?当然不是。但是他做了很多或者已经做了很多来帮助我们吗?是的。”72岁的宾夕法尼亚州居民卡罗琳·西姆斯说。

2024 GOP candidates, voters raise age as a concern on campaign trail

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell'salarming health episodethis week has just added to a debate over age already dominating the campaign trail.

Although it's not clear why the the 81-year-old McConnell's appeared to freeze during a news conference -- it nevertheless prompted both candidates and voters to again ask: How old is too old to serve as an elected official -- let alone to serve in the White House?

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Thirty-eight-year-old Vivek Ramaswamy, the first millennial to run for the Republican nomination, said after an Iowa town hall on Thursday, "I do think that this country is badly in need of a leader who can reach the next generation with an actual affirmative vision that inspires young people."

GOP candidate Nikki Haley, 51, was blunt, calling the U.S. Senate the "most privileged nursing home in the country"on Fox News.

"It's sad. No one should feel good about seeing that, any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein or seeing Joe Biden's decline," she said of the longtime California senator and the current president. "You have to know when to leave."

Their focus on age appears to reflect the concerns of a large portion of the electorate. Seventy-seven percent of the public, including 69% of Democrats, say Joe Biden, at age 80, is too old to serve another term, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Researchpoll. A majority (51%) of those voters think that Donald Trump, who at 77 is just three years younger than Biden, is also too old to be president.

"As you can see now, we've got some of our leading politicians in their 80s -- that makes a lot of difference. When they start losing their [faculties], they ought to have to resign or retire or whatever. But we need that so we can have a good government for people who can think good and look good. We have term limits for president so why not have it for Congress?" asked Max Hagen, an 85-year-old from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In conversations with ABC News on the campaign trail over the past five months, voters have routinely signaled apprehension over the ages of Biden, Trump, McConnell and other older politicians.

"It's a sad state of where we're at politically in this country that a lot of people are lifelong politicians," Randy Ervin, a 62-year-old retired UPS worker, said at a campaign event for Sen. Tim Scott in Newton, Iowa, this week.

"I think Mitch is a good example. Great guy, means well, but he's at a point in life where he needs to take care of himself and not be in that position … sometimes I'm not quite sure [Biden] knows what he's doing either. Again, he's a life-long politician. He's doing what's right for him and his party and not necessarily what's right for the country and that bothers me."

Republican candidates' alternatives

In her presidential launch, Haley floated the idea of requiring mental competency tests for politicians over 75. She often voices her support for the idea of term limits to induce "generational change" among elected officials and argues that any Republican wouldn't be running against Joe Biden in 2024's general election but could very well be competing instead against a future President Kamala Harris, a not-so-veiled suggestion about the life expectancy of the aging president.

In aninterviewwith ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" after the first GOP debate, Haley said she would support Trump if he was convicted because "I am not comfortable with a President Kamala Harris," referring to Biden's vice president and running mate.

Haley has insisted that "there is no way" Biden would "finish his term," citing his age and a recent "decline" in his health.

On Thursday, she repeated her call for mental competency tests, suggesting that even candidates in her own age group should be screened.

"I wouldn't care if they did them over the age of 50," said Haley on Fox News."But these people are making decisions on our national security. They're making decisions on our economy, on the border."

Republican candidates also largely embrace term limits.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, 64, supports the idea. In July, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44, said he backed term limits to make room for generational change of leadership, speaking after McConnell's first public apparent freeze while making remarks on Capitol Hill.

"You kind of serve in your prime and then pass the baton to the next generation," DeSantis said. "I think this generation has not really been as willing to do that. Look, one of the reasons I'm running compared to Biden, I mean, my gosh, we need energy in the executive, you know, we need some vigor and vitality," DeSantis told conservative personality Megyn Kelly.

"I think most younger conservatives would say that they're generally in favor of some kind of guidelines and some term limits." said Joe Mitchell, 26, founder of the Conservative Run GenZ organization and a former Iowa state lawmaker who was the youngest member to ever be elected to the Iowa House.

Republican voters ABC News spoke with on the campaign trail cite Biden's age as a key reason they don't think he's fit to be president.

"I would say that 'Joe Biden' is way too old and very unfit to be president," said Jackson Rennix, a 19-year-old student at Temple University. "He has been in politics for like 47 years or something like that. We want to see new ideas as a young generation, as well as -- he's unfit to serve in his mental state, like he can't really get a sentence out sometimes."

Most Democratic voters, elected officials downplay Biden's age

Among Democrats, Biden's age as a reelection concern is often downplayed by elected officials, who note that "broader issues"will be more important during a general election.

"When people look at a candidate, whether it's Joe Biden, or Trump, or Bernie Sanders, or anybody else, they have to evaluate a whole lot of factors," Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's 81 and ran against Biden for president in 2020,said on NBC's "Meet the Press"in late August.

"I met with the president five or six weeks ago, we had a great discussion, he seemed fine to me. But I think at the end of the day, what we have got to ask ourselves is what do people stand for? Do you believe that women have the right to control their own bodies? Well, the president has been strong on that ... Age is an issue, Chuck, but there are a lot of broader issues than just that."

Some voters agreed.

"I think Joe Biden is a good steward for the country ... they’re trying to find any weakness because he's in his 80s. So what? That doesn't make a difference. He is the right man right now," Sandy Shocker, from Buckeye, Arizona, said.

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, 54, has been one fewoutspoken Democrats over concerns about Biden's ageheading into a tight 2024 general election.

"I love Joe Biden. I think he's a man of decency, of competency. His record is extraordinary. I voted for it. I helped market it and distribute it. I think the world of him. But I also believe my job is not to be bound to the president, to my party, but to the Constitution and country and right now I have grave concerns," Phillips said on CNN last month, pushing for other Democrats to jump in the race to primary Biden.

"I am scared. I'm trying to raise that bell, be the clarion call, if you will."

According to theAP-NORC poll, among those who do think Joe Biden is too old to continue effectively serving as president, only 14% want to see him seek a second term.

Some Democratic voters are also not afraid to voice concerns with their party's standard-bearer.

"His age is the biggest concern for me and I think that barring a better solution or a better candidate, then obviously he'd be my choice," said Todd Collins, President, UAW Local 724 in Lansing, Michigan.

Biden in April, after he launched his reelection campaign said he respects Americans taking a "hard look" at whether his age is a factor and to decide if he's fit to serve as he seeks a second term.

But despite recent calls for term limits and age limits in leadership, Americans aged 65 and up form the biggest voting bloc in most states.

And between now and 2040, the senior population is projected to swell by 44%, while the 18-to-64 population grows by just 6%. And many of those elders will have no qualms about keeping older politicians in office, according to journalist William J. Kole in his book, "The Big 100: The New World of Super-Aging."

"[Biden] did more in two years as a president than I can remember any other president doing for the betterment of this country and for the betterment of the people. He seems to really be on point about that. Does he do everything that I want him to do? Of course not. But does he do a lot or did he do a lot already to help us? Yes." said Carolyn Sims, a 72-year old resident of Pennsylvania.