AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File
People line up to vote in Georgia’s primary election Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Atlanta.
NEW YORK (AP) — Running for a Manhattan congressional seat against Democrats twice his age, 38-year-old Suraj Patel is tapping into his generation’s frustration with those who have held office for decades.
By saying, Reps. Jerry Nadler, 75, 75, and Carolyn Maloney, 76, are part of a crop of Democrats who rose to power in the 1990s only to fail on issues ranging from guns to climate change and abortion. The redistricting process that combined their congressional districts provides an opportunity for new leadership, Patel said.
“If we keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results: That’s not the only definition of insanity,” he said. “That is also the definition of responsibility.”
More than 1,100 miles west of the Iowa presidential testing ground, Republican Jeremiah Bronson was also considering whether anyone other than 76-year-old Donald Trump could lead his party into the future. Bronson expressed growing interest in 55-year-old Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“He seems to be in line with conservatives across the country,” Bronson, 39, said as he ate grilled pork sandwiches with a half-dozen other Story State Republicans.
In a nation that seems as divided as every imaginable, there is a shared desire among Democrats and Republicans for a new generation of political leadership. The conversation is more pronounced when it comes to the White House as Trump considers another campaign and President Joe Biden faces doubts about his ability to run for re-election in 2024 at the age of 82.
Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who conducts weekly focus groups with voters across the country and on the political scene said: “There is a similar feeling.
There are repeated calls for youth and change in American politics.
Bill Clinton’s appeal to a new generation of leadership helped him rise from governor of Arkansas to become the first baby president in 1992. In 2008, Barack Obama’s relative youth was an asset in his first campaign against Hillary Clinton and during in the general election against the Arizona senator. John McCain.
Recently, Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential bid has gained traction as it focuses on new leadership before it overtakes Biden, who is seen by many Democrats as the safe choice against Trump.
The movement has shifted since then, with some Democratic voters angry that Biden and congressional leaders have not done more to protect abortion rights, respond more forcefully to the spate of mass shootings and address climate change. .
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll shows 83% of American adults say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Only 36% approve of Biden’s leadership overall, while 62% disapprove. AP-NORC polls in recent months have captured deep pessimism among members of his Democratic Party about Biden, the direction of the country and the state of the economy. A January AP-NORC poll found only 28% of respondents and 48% of Democrats said they wanted Biden to run for re-election in 2024.
Julian Castro, Obama’s former housing secretary and one-time presidential candidate, said there is “no doubt” that members of his party are frustrated and that Washington Democrats need to show urgency and produce results. In a telephone interview at the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas, he said Democrats seemed energized.
“My closest hope is that that anger and confusion will be well-carried into the November election,” he said, referring to the midterm elections. “And then we’ll figure out what’s out there when it happens in November.”
Biden has repeatedly insisted that he will run for re-election. But if he decides to step aside, a number of young Democrats could challenge him. Among them is Vice President Kamala Harris, 57 years old. California Governor Gavin Newsom, 54, and Gov. Illinois J.B. Pritzker, 57, has drawn attention in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion and mass shootings.
Some of the Democrats who are seeking office this year have made it clear that they want a new generation to take their place in politics.
Last month, South Carolina’s Democratic candidate, Joe Cunningham, proposed not only limits, but also age limits for office holders, saying it was time to end the “oligarchy of the elderly.” of the United States that keep politicians in “the office passed by the former prime minister. .” Cunningham, who recently turned 40, includes the incumbent he hopes to unseat in November, 75-year-old Republican Henry McMaster, the state’s oldest governor.
But Cunningham also said the proposal was intended to apply to Biden.
For Republicans, the heaviest debate often seems to focus less on age and more on whether the party should move away from Trump. That’s especially true of a Jan. 6 House committee hearing that brought new attention to his desperate bid to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
The Jan. 6 hearing may send voters looking elsewhere.
AP-NORC in June found that 48% of American adults said Trump should be impeached for his role in the siege of the US Capitol. An AP-NORC poll from January showed that people are less likely to run for Trump again in 2024 than they were for Biden: Only 27% of American adults wanted Trump to run again, including a slim majority. of – 56% – Republicans. That poll also showed the former president’s GOP popularity has declined, with 71% of Republicans saying they have a favorable opinion of Trump compared to 78% in a September 2020 AP-NORC/USAFacts poll.
Longwell, a Republican strategist, said the hearings seem to have an impact even among Republican voters who did not watch the hearings or were persuaded by them because they are reminded of the noise surrounding Trump.
“One of the things I hear over and over again in groups is that Trump has a lot of baggage and there are all the other stars, the Republican stars, and maybe it’s time for Trump to be like an old man,” she said. count. .
A number of figures from the Trump world and beyond are seen as potential contenders in 2024. Trump and his allies are particularly focused on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 43, who is seen as is a younger heir to the icon of the former president. politics.
Other Republicans who are increasingly moving to run for president include Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas, 45; Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, 50; Texas Senator Ted Cruz, 51; Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 58; and former Vice President Mike Pence, 63.
Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party who is not a Trump supporter, said he thinks “fever has broken” when it comes to Trump’s position in the GOP.
“I think the combination of him is just spending all his time, every speech, reviewing 2020. Voters usually look forward to it. They don’t look back,” he said.
Brady said part of voters’ frustration with their political leaders is age-related.
“When you look at the leadership, I’m old, and those guys make me look young,” said the 61-year-old Brady. “This is a young and dynamic country, basically, and we’ve got a lot of old people running it.”
