According to Huffpo - here is our bench...

[lapfog_1]

Current Age

Hillary Clinton - 67
Joe Biden - 72
Jerry Brown - 76
Bernie Sanders - 73
Martin O'Malley - 52
Andrew Cuomo - 57
Joe Manchin - 67
Amy Klobuchar - 54
Elizabeth Warren - 65
Kirsten Gillibrand - 48
Howard Dean - 66
Jay Nixon - 58
Mark Warner - 60

Does anyone think that even any of these beyond HRC, Bernie, Warren, or Biden is even possibly running?

BTW - average age - 62.7

and the average age of the 4 most talked about candidate is 69.25.

I have a real problem with this... we are two years out from inauguration and we want a President that will serve (hopefully) a full 8 years (10 from now) in the most demanding job on the planet. Look how Presidents in the modern era age from early in their terms until late...

We need candidates that get the young voters excited... and going to the polls.

[left-of-center2012]

1. Mmmm - no

Jerry Brown isn’t running.
Joe Manchin is a Republican masquerading as a Democrat.
Elizabeth Warren won’t run.
Howard Dean is working for Clinton.

[stillwaiting]

6. Mark Warner is another R pretending to be D.

There's more than a few on that list when it comes to economic policy.

[FSogol]

13. You are wrong about Mark Warner. n/t

[stillwaiting]

18. It's an opinion. He's my Senator.

On big votes he votes with Wall Street quite often.

So, I'm not wrong.

I have an opinion, and it differs from yours.

I can not stand Mark Warner. He's way too conservative on economic policy for me.

And, I've voted for him in every election he's run in.

[Mike Nelson]

2. No...

...the one who compiled that list created the "problem"

[blkmusclmachine]

3. A lot of DINOS on that list ~

[hifiguy]

10. That's for darn sure.

Lotta Turd Way thee.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. I'm not sure that presidents age *that* much more quickly than the average person.

Take any random adult between age 46 and 55 (which is about the average range for most presidents at the beginning of their term) and follow them every day for 8 years and they'll get a lot greyer and develop lines they didn't have and so on. It's probably more that most presidents are at the point in middle age where ageing is more noticeable over the timespan that coincides with their term in office.

[lovemydog]

5. Yes. We need younger candidates in all aspects of the democratic party.

Local, State and federal.

If you're younger and reading this, please consider becoming involved. Especially if you're very progressive and intend to do something about the tremendous income inequality that plagues our country. The time is right now for liberal economic populist action.

Please don't be put off by it. Get involved and become engaged. Encourage your friends to get involved.

Thanks for reading this post.

[rosesaylavee]

7. Martin O'Malley looks more and more interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/02/opinion/dont-drill-along-the-east-coast.html?_r=0

"...Furthermore, we shouldn’t be so quick to embrace offshore exploration at a time when climate change is likely to cause increasingly powerful hurricanes, like Sandy in 2012. If a single hurricane has the power to damage or destroy more than 650,000 homes in its path, we should consider what might become of an oil rig...."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/02/02/martin-omalley-hillary-clinton-iowa-democrat-caucus-president-iowa-poll/22753007/

The Maryland Democrat made no mention of a potential 2016 run during his remarks, focusing on the 2014 campaign. But he ticked off in rapid succession the bullet points of an economic agenda: strengthening the middle class making college more affordable, raising the minimum wage, increasing the earned income tax credit, passing a living wage, equal pay for equal work for women.

He described an "emerging consensus" about how the American economy works. "And people have cast aside the trickle-down politics and the trickle-down economics of the past," O'Malley said.

There's a generational shift underway, he said, in Americans' perspective. "People under 40 very firmly and intuitively believe their greater success and greater prosperity is going be found in closer connections to others rather than greater distance from others," he said.

That's demonstrated by the number of young Americans who want to live in cities again, he said.

[Jim Lane]

8. O'Malley is definitely contemplating a run.

He said a year ago that he was interested in the idea and was doing some of the preparation. He's already fielded a significant staff presence in Iowa and other early-voting states, helping Democrats in the 2014 races:

The staffers O’Malley has placed will give him a head start if he chooses to run for president. They will be able to identify potential supporters far in advance, as well as build lists of volunteers key to the grassroots organizing necessary in the Iowa caucuses. And deploying staffers allows O’Malley to earn chits with Iowa Democrats and build a reservoir of goodwill that he can use in the future.

(from "2016 Overachiever Martin O’Malley Now Has 11 Staffers Working in Iowa", Washington Post, September 12, 2014)

One speculation is that he'll end up not running if Hillary Clinton runs. Another speculation is that he'll run anyway, but "respectfully" (without going negative on her), hoping to demonstrate enough electoral strength to be a good choice as her running mate. There seems to be a consensus among O'Malley-watchers that he will not try to mount a full-throated attack on Clinton from the left, the way Bernie Sanders presumably would.

[rosesaylavee]

9. The leader who acknowledges Climate Change is a dire challenge and

proposes a plan and/or says that it is on the short list of what they will address immediately will get my vote.

[FSogol]

15. Mother Jones magazine likes Martin O'Malley best on environmental issues.

"Martin O'Malley Is A Longshot Presidential Candidate, and a Real Climate Hawk
The data-loving Maryland gov could have the greenest credentials of any '16 contender."

Whole article here:

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/martin-omalley-longshot-presidential-candidate-and-real-climate-hawk

[FSogol]

12. O'Malley is definitely running. He's waiting until HRC announces before

making his announcement. HRC is shortening the election season by waiting to announce knowing that the possible field is waiting for her to make the first move.

[Agschmid]

16. Always like him.

[BrotherIvan]

11. This really angers me

I want a statesperson, someone with life experience and many years of digesting the issues to hold the highest office of the land. I want someone who will fight for liberal values and the good of all people. I don't give a damn how old they are.

This isn't fucking American Idol and we don't need a spokesmodel, we need a President who can turn this country in the right direction and represent us with peace, dignity and intelligence to the rest of the world.

I'm tired of all this worship of "freshness" and youth in leadership positions. It almost always doesn't work out well and an experienced person is needed to clean up the mess. And I'm not in the "old" category either. This isn't an easy job and you shouldn't be learning as you go. Stop with the ageism!!

[Agschmid]

17. Don't fear I am a young-ish voter and I also want someone with experience...

[BrotherIvan]

19. I'm sure not all young people are so shallow to think only another young person can be President

But apparently some older people are

[FSogol]

14. Huffpost (Online leader of lazy journalism) is promoting a Koch RW meme here.

That meme is that the Democrats are too old and that we need fresh blood and a look forward, not back. This is their strategy to minimize HRC's or Biden's run and to promote Scott Walker (age 47). Don't help the Kochs.