Why isn't there more pressure on elderly Senate Dems to retire?
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  Why isn't there more pressure on elderly Senate Dems to retire?
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Author Topic: Why isn't there more pressure on elderly Senate Dems to retire?  (Read 922 times)
Heebie Jeebie
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« on: April 07, 2021, 07:57:41 PM »

Patrick Leahy will be 82 on election day next year.  Richard Blumenthal will be 76.  Ron Wyden will be 73.  Given how fragile the Democratic Senate majority is (and how fragile any future Democratic majority will almost certainly be), why isn't there more pressure on these Senators to forgo their re-election bids and let younger politicians take the reins?  Are these men really so irreplaceable?  An untimely death and an unlucky special election could completely doom Democrats' ability to govern.
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Donerail
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« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2021, 08:53:18 PM »

Because 1. they don't want to and 2. you can't make them. And yes, they really are irreplaceable — if Leahy retired, Vermont would go from having the most senior Senator to having one of the most junior Senators. Seniority is power, especially in the Senate.
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2021, 04:12:01 AM »

Lol, this pollster all he does is push for D retirements, D's aren't retiring no one since Mcconnell, Grassley and Inhofe are in their 80s
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I’m not Stu
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« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2021, 09:10:16 AM »

Vermont has a GOP governor. It would make sense for Leahy to retire so that he doesn't die in office.
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2021, 09:33:38 AM »

I wish this pollsters would stop with Retirement talk and talk issues
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PAK Man
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« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2021, 09:45:32 AM »

I'd love to know why people keep bringing this up with Democrats and never Republicans. Nobody whined when Mitch McConnell or Jim Inhofe ran for another term, or how Grassley (the second-oldest member of the U.S. Senate) is being indecisive on whether or not he'll run again. Kind of like how people always say Feinstein's too old to serve, yet despite being only three months older than Grassley, nobody says the same of him. And trust me, I lived in Iowa for a long time and I never once heard anyone say Grassley was too old, outside of Democrats, of course.
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Holy Unifying Centrist
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« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2021, 02:04:26 PM »

I'd love to know why people keep bringing this up with Democrats and never Republicans. Nobody whined when Mitch McConnell or Jim Inhofe ran for another term, or how Grassley (the second-oldest member of the U.S. Senate) is being indecisive on whether or not he'll run again. Kind of like how people always say Feinstein's too old to serve, yet despite being only three months older than Grassley, nobody says the same of him. And trust me, I lived in Iowa for a long time and I never once heard anyone say Grassley was too old, outside of Democrats, of course.


...they should retire too. Especially McConnell.
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President Johnson
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« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2021, 02:15:42 PM »

Vermont has a GOP governor. It would make sense for Leahy to retire so that he doesn't die in office.

Moderate hero Phil Scott would probably appoint a Democrat or an Independents of the middle. However, Vermont holds special elections very quickly and that would be Safe Democratic anyway. The others mentioned are from states with a Democratic governor and lean blue in special elections as well. So that isn't a big deal.

But generally I agree, a few more younger members would be healthy.
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Del Tachi
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« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2021, 02:23:13 PM »

There's no pressure because the senators you named are locally popular.

The only people who care about this are massively online, pundit types who want a Senate full of Jon Ossoffs and Ayanna Pressleys for expressly partisan purposes.  What Joe Schmoe in New Haven thinks about Richard Blumenthal running next year couldn't possibly be any more misaligned with the aspirations of the Twitterati, lol
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2021, 02:29:01 PM »

Due to fact both parties think their odds of expanding their control of Congress in midterm, no senior D whom are leaders are gonna retire when they see a 54/46 Majority in site, we are almost thete
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coloradocowboi
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« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2021, 03:56:41 PM »

There's no pressure because the senators you named are locally popular.

The only people who care about this are massively online, pundit types who want a Senate full of Jon Ossoffs and Ayanna Pressleys for expressly partisan purposes.  What Joe Schmoe in New Haven thinks about Richard Blumenthal running next year couldn't possibly be any more misaligned with the aspirations of the Twitterati, lol

Well this is just blatantly false.

First, there is the legitimate concern one of these fools could die. Leahy, who had a health emergency just weeks ago, is exhibit A of that.

Second, and I'm sure this doesn't matter to you because of your blue avatar but it does matter to rank and file Dems, underrepresentation is a serious problem and we've already seen that all things considered equal Dems are more likely to turn out for women, LGBTQ, and POC candidates, esp. when they belong to one of those groups. Whether or not you understand or appreciate why equity is important to the left, it is very important. 
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LtNOWIS
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« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2021, 09:03:20 PM »
« Edited: April 09, 2021, 09:11:45 PM by LtNOWIS »

There's no pressure because the senators you named are locally popular.

The only people who care about this are massively online, pundit types who want a Senate full of Jon Ossoffs and Ayanna Pressleys for expressly partisan purposes.  What Joe Schmoe in New Haven thinks about Richard Blumenthal running next year couldn't possibly be any more misaligned with the aspirations of the Twitterati, lol

Well this is just blatantly false.

First, there is the legitimate concern one of these fools could die. Leahy, who had a health emergency just weeks ago, is exhibit A of that.

Second, and I'm sure this doesn't matter to you because of your blue avatar but it does matter to rank and file Dems, underrepresentation is a serious problem and we've already seen that all things considered equal Dems are more likely to turn out for women, LGBTQ, and POC candidates, esp. when they belong to one of those groups. Whether or not you understand or appreciate why equity is important to the left, it is very important.  

There's an offline constituency for it. "This guy isn't obviously flawed but he's old and out of touch and unrepresentative of the state and party as it is today." It isn't explicitly about their age and the idea that they might die in office, it's just what you see with lazy long-term incumbents in either party. The Dems just add the representational angle as well.

But when unless the incumbent is totally out of touch and inept, they'll usually win. Guys like Tom Carper, Steny Hoyer, etc. are out of the zeitgeist but they haven't gotten lazy.
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Oregon Eagle Politics
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« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2021, 09:59:00 PM »

I'd love to know why people keep bringing this up with Democrats and never Republicans. Nobody whined when Mitch McConnell or Jim Inhofe ran for another term, or how Grassley (the second-oldest member of the U.S. Senate) is being indecisive on whether or not he'll run again. Kind of like how people always say Feinstein's too old to serve, yet despite being only three months older than Grassley, nobody says the same of him. And trust me, I lived in Iowa for a long time and I never once heard anyone say Grassley was too old, outside of Democrats, of course.
Because this is a left-leaning forum, and people would be sadder if Leahy dies than McConnell.
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PAK Man
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« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2021, 05:09:45 PM »

I'd love to know why people keep bringing this up with Democrats and never Republicans. Nobody whined when Mitch McConnell or Jim Inhofe ran for another term, or how Grassley (the second-oldest member of the U.S. Senate) is being indecisive on whether or not he'll run again. Kind of like how people always say Feinstein's too old to serve, yet despite being only three months older than Grassley, nobody says the same of him. And trust me, I lived in Iowa for a long time and I never once heard anyone say Grassley was too old, outside of Democrats, of course.
Because this is a left-leaning forum, and people would be sadder if Leahy dies than McConnell.

I'm not just talking about this forum. I'm talking about people who discuss politics in general. I see it happen all the time.
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