Politicians are getting older. How is that affecting our politics?

By Steve Kraske,

Published September 23, 2023 at 5:00 AM CDT

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., smiles as he arrives to speak to reporters after a weekly caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

According to a recent AP-NORC poll, 77% of American adults believe President Joe Biden is too old for a second term. And as public figures like Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein publicly experience health problems, some are calling for the next generation of politicians to be much younger.

In numerous opinion pieces circulating around the American media — including a column from the Kansas Reflector's Clay Wirestone — people are calling for younger leadership in our politics.

While some have shown concern about elected officials like President Joe Biden, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and California Sen. Diane Feinstein, it isn't just a national trend.

Wirestone also found that the median age of Kansas state senators is 63, while the Kansas House sits at 61. He believes having so many older politicians in control causes our governing bodies to not be representative of the people they serve.

"We look at legislative bodies, and we say, 'How are they representative of the public?' You know, how many Black members are there? How many LGBTQ members are there? How many men are there versus women? I think age just needs to be part of that conversation with all of the other things that we talk about," Wirestone explained.

Clay Wirestone, opinion editor of the Kansas Reflector
Matthew Harris, PhD, political science professor at Park University