Nancy Pelosi Is Old. Good.
The push to depose Pelosi on grounds of age shows how uncomfortable our culture is with the sight of female aging
Nancy Pelosi is old. Her Republican opponents have been spreading the word on that for ages: Donald Trump Jr. called her “tired old Nancy Pelosi” in a campaign ad. Sarah Palin and Lindsay Graham joked about her getting face lifts. Former House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy called her the face of “the old, old past” on Fox News. Beneath the competent, lifelong politician, these critics warn us, there’s a 78-year-old grandma with wrinkled skin — do you really want that making decisions about your health care?
This has been the line for many years now, and for a certain kind of voter, it works. What is surprising is to see these concerns — wrapped in slightly more polite language — used by Democrats and progressives to destabilize Pelosi’s current bid for speaker of the house.
The age argument for replacing Pelosi, Paul Blest writes at Splinter, “is a good one: not only is the leadership itself much older than the rank and file, but Pelosi has been reluctant to groom younger members for the leadership roles they’ll need to take over[.]” Meanwhile, at the Atlantic, we learn that “A House Dominated by Nancy Pelosi Hurts Young Democrats.” (The piece’s headline has…
