Democrats are taking their senior posts in Congress literally

[Judi Lynn]

Dec. 23, 2006, 8:59PM
Democrats are taking their senior posts in Congress literally
Those poised to lead Senate, House have a few years on GOP predecessors

By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Forget all that talk about 40 being the new 30. Democratic members of Congress seem intent on demonstrating that 80 is the new 70 — or perhaps even 60.

The senior Democrats ready to take power when the new Congress comes to order in January are nothing if not, well, senior.
(snip)

Hip, with hip problems
It is not exactly a case of the torch being passed to an older generation — the outgoing Republican committee leaders are a seasoned lot, too.

But the average age of the incoming Democratic House committee leaders is 67, six years older than the Republicans they are replacing.

The trend is the same, albeit less pronounced, in the Senate, where the average age of Democratic chairmen will be about 68 1/2 , a year older than the Republican leaders who are losing their majority status.
(snip)

When Vice President Dick Cheney got into a tiff with Rangel last year and suggested that the New York Democrat was getting old and might be "losing it," Rangel retorted, "He should look so good at 75."
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4423606.html

[ixion]

1. okay, I would like to see younger people in politics, however

the fabric that is the political landscape inherently denies the young access to the arena, so gee, no big shock there.


I'm curious, though, how Dick 'Crash Cart' Cheney can be talking sh*t about others health. Seems a bit hypocritcal to me. :evilgrin:

[Greeby]

2. That's where the 30-Something Work Group comes in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2230_Something%22_Working_Group

For reference, I've put in brackets the ages they were first elected to Congress

* Dan Boren (OK-2) (32)
* Artur Davis (AL-7) (36)
* Harold Ford Jr. (TN-9) (26)
* Stephanie Herseth (SD-At Large) (33)
* Patrick J. Kennedy (RI-1) (28)
* Dan Lipinkski (IL-3) (39)
* Kendrick Meek (FL-17) (37)
* Tim Ryan (OH-17) (30)
* Linda Sanchez (CA-39) (34)
* Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) (38)

And before that, a lot of them had experience in state government before running for Congress

[Demeter]

3. At 75 Cheney Will Have Been Dead 15 Years

from capital punishment for war crimes, if we are lucky.