Has The Time Finally Come To Ban Older Politicians From Running For Office?

North Dakota voters recently approved a ballot measure that bans anyone in the state from running for Congress if they are due to turn 81 years old during the term- and the law doesn’t seem likely to be challenged in court by anyone anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Presidential election in November will feature an 81-year-old Joe Biden against Donald Trump, who turns 78 tomorrow. Is the North Dakota measure a possible precedent for election laws elsewhere in the country, or even nationwide? Doctor Arthur Caplan, professor of bioethics at NYU Langone, appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss whether voters should treat candidates much like people deal with elderly parents who have the car keys a bit too long.

“I think it’s a very interesting move,” Caplan told Berman and Riedel. “I’m not necessarily going to argue against it ethically. There may be a need for just saying at some point you age out. Our politicians have to be younger and, at least in general, somewhat vigorous. You see the travel they have to do, the running around they have to do, putting aside whether they have illnesses that are more likely, as they age, which they do. So, I’m not sure I’m against it, but I don’t know, it may not stand up to a legal challenge. The Constitution does say you’ve got to be a minimum age; it doesn’t say anything about maximum age.”

Dr. Caplan also discussed a possible use for AI, as a company recently began using the technology to allow deceased relatives to record their voice before they die and use it to talk to relatives after they have passed on. “Some people say this is great for grief and bereavement. Somebody dies, they can meet the grandkids later who never would have known Grandpa, and that would be comforting. On the other hand, it’s really kind of creepy, right? I mean, the artificial intelligence really isn’t me, and I don’t know if it’s going to answer accurately. You might even say it’s not the best kind of way to come to terms with a death [but] I’ll say this- that technology and that company and the others that are gonna get in the business, they’ve got a future.”

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