A helpful checklist for the next crop of Democratic presidential candidates.

Specifically: age, and medical history.

  • Vice President Joe Biden.  Will be 74 in 2017.  Medical history: aneurysm, pulmonary embolism.
  • Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Will be 69 in 2017. Medical history: blood clot in brain.
  • Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Will be 68 in 2017. Medical history: appears to be in decent health.
  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Will be 59 in 2017. Medical history: appears to be in decent health.
  • Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.  Will be 54 in 2017. Medical history: appears to be in decent health.

…Yeah, I put Dean on the list because he’s been putting himself out there for speculation this week. Even if he doesn’t run, well, that’s not exactly a list that screams We are the party of youth!  The only ‘young’ guy on that list – Gorbachev to Biden and Clinton’s Brezhnev, if you will – is O’Malley, and O’Malley has all the charm and style of a National Endowment of the Arts internal audit report for the 2007 fiscal year.  Everybody else?  Old white guy*.  Except for the old white woman. And half of whom have medical problems involving the brain.

Good luck with that!

Moe Lane

*Cuomo is on the cusp, sure.

24 thoughts on “A helpful checklist for the next crop of Democratic presidential candidates.”

      1. Wouldn’t be so sure that matters by Labor Day, 2016. Thanks to the last 20+ years, we may be looking at a completely different skill set vis-a-vis police/military issues. Combine that with the Heller and McDonald cases, and the NRA may end up being a quiet bunch when it comes to electoral matters.

        1. Unless it splits into pro-statist / pro-liberty subsets …
          .
          Most 2A folks I’ve encountered have a pretty clear libertarian streak. They’re not Ron Paul kooks, tend to vote GOP, but .. liberty is a thing, and the changes to the relationship between the police and the citizens is .. not going to sit well.
          .
          Mew

          1. 2A will definitely matter, and a lot of pro-gun folks would be willing to vote Dem over Christie if the NRA endorsed the dude. ( don’t know if that would work with Dean though knowing his progressive hero stature) Dean will probably move Left on the issue though if he’s serious about 2016.
            He only got endorsed back when he was a Governor of VT. And VT is pretty pro-gun so that’s why ( though they don’t vote 2A for some reason)

    1. I see what you mean, he will be 59 in 2017, gotcha. Ignore the above comment. I apologize for being an idiot.

  3. By Comparison:

    -Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio would both be 45 on 1/20/2017.
    -Scott Walker would be 49.
    -Nikki Haley (admittedly a long shot) would be 44.
    -Sarah Palin (even longer shot) would be 52.
    -Rand Paul and Chris Christie would both be 54 (!).
    -Jeb Bush would be 63.
    -Rick Perry would be the lone AARP member at 65.

      1. Pence could work. I’ve suspected that’s why he went for Gov-IN, it’s a good stepping stone and he needed some executive cred on his resume.
        .
        He can think on his feet, he’s got pretty good conservative cred, and while I think he’d take the fat man apart in the debates, he’d do it without shouting and while smiling.
        .
        That’s .. kind of the problem. His lack of anger, lack of agressive offense, may not appeal enough to a base that’s increasingly angry, and wants the same from their leader.
        .
        Mew

  5. Nightmare scenario: Joe Biden vacates the vice-presidency for medical reasons. Obama appoints someone more left-wing than any currently plausible Democratic presidential candidate: Deval Patrick (61 in 2017), Elizabeth Warren (67 in 2017), or Cory Booker (48 in 2017). Instant candidate.
     
    Or Eric Holder. Yech.

      1. I .. don’t know how much of an obstacle either chamber would be to any of them.
        .
        I can see Rand and Cruz going at ’em a bit in hearings, even more possibility for fun in the house, but .. end of the day?
        .
        He put two young fools on the Supreme Court.
        .
        Mew

        1. There are other Dems that Obama could nominate that would pass ratification of both houses, none of those listed above would pass House of Reps, and certainly not the Senate if controlled by the GOP. Not even the current VP would pass I think.
          If Obama has to find a new VP it will likely a “moderate” like Warner or Bayh, maybe Beshear. Schweitzer as well, but he’s a bit of a douche like Christie, so personality wise might not pass Congress.

          1. Yes, but giving a competent moderate – by the way, Bayh may *press release* moderate, but his voting record reeks of *hardcore* – that much of an edge over Hillary …
            .
            That would be a GOP Kobayashi Maru.
            .
            Mew

          2. I am the House of Reps, I’d gladly give him Warren just to set up that Warren-Clinton primary. More than that VP Lizzie might actually takes HRC out in that primary. Prog elite love her, HRC not so much. Nationally, Warren is the definition of “too radical to get elected”.

  6. Thank you, acat. The two Supreme Court confirmations give me reason to despair that the Republicans would stand in President Obama’s way if he decided to nominate someone distasteful as VP. My mention of Eric Holder was (I hope!) a joke, but I could see the other three being confirmed by Congress.

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