His inaugural speech was all about unity. They were conventional sentiments, which would have been immediately forgettable, had the need for them not been so acute. After a difficult year, a bitterly contested election, and an outbreak of mob violence within the Capitol itself, conventional platitudes could feel genuinely inspired. Of course, no sensible person really believes that our 46th president has the wherewithal to broker a peace in America’s raging culture wars.
Joe Biden is an old man, stepping into the shoes of another old man. We are determined, it seems, to be ruled by old men, perhaps in part because our nation has become so intensely polarized that “consensus candidates” are difficult to find among the young. Elderly politicians had the opportunity to build name recognition in a more normal era, when political rivals were at least somewhat able to set business aside while they went for a drink. For younger politicians, it has been difficult to break into the ranks of the political elite without courting support from one or another camp of ideological zealots. As common ground dwindles, gerontocracy rises, because elderly candidates are the only ones who seem sufficiently electable. This trend does not bode well for the future.
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