Biden Leads Septuagenarian Democrats in 2020 Poll

A new CNN poll is out and there is plenty to cheer about if you’re a Democrat — and you’re over 70 years old.

Leading the field of candidates for the Democratic nomination for president is former Vice President Joe Biden with 33 percent. Biden will be 78 years old on January 20, 2021.

Finishing a distant second with 13 percent is Senator Bernie Sanders, who would be 79 when he took office.

In third place is California Senator Kamala Harris with 9 percent. She’s one of the babies of this bunch — 55 on Inauguration Day.

Two of the next three Democrats ranked in the field are Elizabeth Warren at 71 and John Kerry at 76. Senator Cory Booker is the youngest amongst the top five at 51.

Since I am getting a little long in the tooth myself, I shouldn’t be disparaging my fellow seniors by hinting that perhaps 78 years old is a little too old for the arduous and grinding task of running the country. But it is still remarkable that there are so few nationally known Democrats below the age of 50 who could give one of the septuagenarians a run for their money.

Voters were also asked their opinion of Trump’s chances in 2020.

The public is split over whether they think the President will win a second term — 46% say he will and 47% say he won’t. But that’s a steep improvement for him since March, when 54% of adults said they thought he’d lose his bid for a second term. The share seeing a second Trump win in the offing has risen across party lines. The increase is a bit sharper among men (up 8 points), independents (from 39% in March to 47% now) and those who are enthusiastic about voting in this year’s midterms (from 37% in March to 46% now).

The President’s partisans are just as likely to want him renominated now as they were in March: Seventy-four percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say he should be the party’s nominee in 2020, and 21% would rather see someone else at the top of the ticket.

Democratic voters appear to prefer the familiar over the young. This isn’t entirely unexpected given that many voters may feel safer casting their ballot for a known commodity in these perilous and rocky times. But there is still something faintly ridiculous about the fact that the Democrats can’t seem to find many leaders under the age of 70 to lead a party that purports to represent the young and the future.