Democrats wrestle with ‘geriatric problem’

For 33 years, the famous “Fry Fry” of Congress member Jim Cleibern was an inevitable event for the Democratic Party members in the hope that they would be made on the national stage. But after a strong electoral defeat and with an old old guard, some ask whether the time has come to the party to present some new traditions.

A little more than five years ago here in South Carolina, the 79 -year -old Clyburn, a 77 -year -old democratic royal maker Joe Biden, gave his desirable presidential support. His previous choices – like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – all won the candidacy of the party, if not the White House.

Clyburn’s support for Biden is widely considered to help former Vice President to win South Carolina’s election and transform the tide in his troubled campaign. Since then, the Democrats have been forced to reassess their selection of Biden Sheikhkha-who have abandoned the pods of his re-election last year amid increasing questions about his efficiency.

After his successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, lost to Donald Trump, many wondered whether he had been stuck for a long time. Then last month, Biden announced that he had prostate cancer in the fourth stage, a condition with a dark diagnosis that would provide a national crisis if he could win his re -election.

Now many people within the party, including some of those who eat food on fried fish and white bread at the Clyburn gathering last Friday, wonder whether the time has come to the party’s new blood party – especially after the death of three Democrats in Congress in office this year alone. Losses mean that the majority of the skinny Republicans in Congress have been strengthened, which allowed them to pass the controversial draft spending law of Trump with one vote.

“We have a problem with aging,” said Ashley Macintier Stewart. “We need to involve the younger society so that we do not have a Republican railway.”

According to a survey conducted by Axios last month, more than half of the thirty Democrats in the House of Representatives over the age of 75 are planning to seek his re -election next year, including Clyburn, whose term will end when he is 88 if he wins.

The veteran politician mocked the idea of ​​retirement.

“I will respond to the voters in South Carolina,” he told the media that was in Fish Fry. “I was with them throughout the month, and not one of them told me that they believe that I am old. Each of them told me, please do not leave.”

He also felt the second guessing of whether Biden should have deviated earlier, saying that his children and grandchildren are not interested in choosing the former president.

“They will ask me what I did to make sure I got a better life,” he said. “This is all that I focus on.”

Democratic voters tend to accept the risks that come with the election of the older politicians to his position, and to give priority to the ruling experience over young and vital. In 2024, only two Democratic occupations in Congress lost their party’s nomination, both – Korean Bush from Missouri and Jamal Bowman from New York – who were new arrivals under the age of 50.

Republicans also have their own elderly politicians, including 78 -year -old. But the 2020 electoral strikes and the detection of health in Biden caused some stamp.

William Godwin, a democratic of Chicago, was visiting South Carolina and stopped at the fish skillet to see Claporen and hearing from the Democratic Conservatives, Tim and Laz from Minnesota and Luis Moore from Maryland, to speak. He said he respects the wisdom of elderly politicians such as Clyburn and Biden, but his party needs a youth movement.

“We need activists,” he said. “We need energy from a variety of different backgrounds – not only age – to put our hands together and work to get some real elections.”

There are signs that some young people who are groaning: Seikat Chairbarte, 39 -year -old former chief of staff to MP Alexandria Okasio Cortez, challenged former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the preliminary elections in Congress in San Francisco. Jake Rakov, 37, is the headquarters of his former president, the current deputy Brad Sherman, who is 15 years old.

Voters are eager “new ideas and new energy to make Congress work again”, “,” A local news port told the Gulf region correspondent in April.

In Fish Fry, the election victory was after the disappointment of hope last year and the challenges of the second Trump’s aggressive agenda were the focus of speeches from two democratic rulers, who are also potential from the pillars of the presidential 2028.

The 61 -year -old Valus, who was a vice president in his party last year, may not be a new face at the party, although he received a warm reception from South Carolina’s fans. Maryland Moore-is a 46-year-old military warrior and is only the third black ruler in the history of the United States-the most drawn response, as he talked about the “stick” in the hands of his generation.

“We are about to send a message you will hear the entire country,” he said. ))

Democrats may have won in the past, but the defeat of last year was particularly clear-and Trump’s first months were placed in the party’s power in a deep hole, as work was needed by Republicans who renewed it by Republicans.

Waltz said: “I was given the credit for Donald Trump for this,” Waltz said. “It moves very quickly and very quickly for bad things, it is better to be ready to move quickly and quickly for good things.”

Waltz said that the Democrats need “difficult talks” on how to strengthen voters who turned to Trump last year.

Within a few years, South Carolina will again be a pivotal battlefield in the struggle for democratic presidential nomination. This type of candidate who partially comes out through the conversations – including how to achieve a balance between age and experience with youth and energy – in these fish in these other democratic gatherings throughout the country in the coming days.