Even with so many months to go before voting for the next POTUS, there are plenty of big issues making headlines in this election year that’s shaping up to be like no other in our nation’s history.
Criminal trials. Missing documents. Chaos at the border. International wars. Shrinking candy bars.
Yet nothing seems to be more front and center these days than the ages of the candidates.
On one hand, I get why more than half of all Americans, at least that’s what the polls indicate, believe both presumptive nominees are too old to serve another term. As Bob Cano, a resident of Plum Landing Retirement Community in Aurora points out, even though each person is different, we do become more vulnerable to health issues as we get older. Which is why he believes there should be a ceiling of 65 for those holding office, as well as the Supreme Court.
Compare those thoughts to fellow Plum Landing resident Mary Schaibley, who describes this election issue as “disgusting … further propelling the idea that we have nothing to offer after a certain age … almost like we should be put out to pasture.”
The issue has dogged Biden, 81, more than Trump, 77, not so much because of the few years that separate them but because the current president, with his white thinning hair and at times tentative way of speaking and walking, comes across as more frail than the tanner and more bombastic Trump.
Truth be told, both men have made more than a few physical and mental stumbles. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve mumbled under my breath, “Is this really the best this country has to offer?”
But age is not the factor I hold against either. And I’m starting to get annoyed by the fact all this talk really is nothing more than yet another sign of ageism by a culture that, dominated by social media platforms, has made us even more obsessed with youth even as our population gets older.
Gloria Deizman, an 81-year-old retired Realtor, is currently in rehab after breaking a foot, but she’s not about to give an inch in this debate.
You might recall her as the president of the Residency Council at Heritage Woods assisted living center in Yorkville, who began a crusade 18 months ago to pass a law that would increase the personal needs allowance of those in assisted living facilities who depend on Medicaid.
Too many older people, Deizman insisted, are buying into the narrative offered by younger generations, especially family members “who begin treating their parents like kids whose opinions don’t count.” And the problem is that these seniors, “tired of fighting it, fall into that role” and give up their voices because they start to believe “we are too old.”
“It happens more often than people will admit,” she said. “Once you hit 70, people start to look at you as useless, and some are too tired to fight it.”
Margie Logman, who at 75 and in a wheelchair has been a longtime visible crusader for Fox Valley seniors, sees ageism as another sign of our fragmented society.
The aging population is diverse in skills, class, intellectual and social interests, capabilities and state of health, she insisted.
“Line up a group in their 70s and you will see some forgetfulness and a bit of confusion, especially in today’s hectic world, but that should not have you labeled as having dementia or Alzheimer’s,” Logman said. “Slipping terms on people without actually understanding is the equivalent to name calling, emotional immaturity and being uninformed.”
Plus, she added, it turns many who are older into “paranoid self-evaluation” after not recalling “such things as every birth and death in the family and other such nonsense.”
And, unlike Deizman, a Trump supporter who believes Biden is struggling with early stages of dementia, Logman challenges even “a 40-something to manage what the president manages, then switch from topic to topic, often under pressure, and not forget something while controlling a stutter.”
At age 75 and mayor of Batavia since 1981, Jeff Schielke certainly knows a thing or two about how longevity can be a political plus.
Schielke is tied with two other Chicago area mayors – Joseph Tamburino of Hillside and Gerald Bennett of Palos Hills – for the longest stints leading their suburban communities. All three were elected in 1981 and all three have maintained leadership roles in mayoral associations, he said, because of the experience they bring to the table.
Yes, Schielke admits to using a few notes “to remember some names or dates,” even when speaking extemporaneously. But he also looks “at younger people in office and I see some of the things they say and advocate … and I want to take them aside and show them the realities of why their idea might not be so good.”
When you “have the background, that experience,” the Batavia mayor added, “you know what works and what does not work.”
Rosemary Hauser, 74, is convinced “over the hill” is more of a mindset than a number, noting how Grandma Moses was in her late 70s when she started to paint and Arthur Rubinstein was performing concerts until age 89.
As a member of the Aurora Woman’s Club, Hauser also pointed to the “many active members” in this group, such as Jeanne Galor, well into her 80s, who organizes its annual Baby Shower, coordinating with VNA for this successful event. Or Marilyn Blasing, “sharp as a whip” in her mid-80s, who organizes and does all the groundwork for the group’s annual plant and flower sale, as well as its “Shop ‘n Share” Days, both of which include a to-do list that goes on for a few paragraphs.
At age 72, Bruce Grider only recently began slowing down from his successful Oswego horse farm – as of last year he delivered nearly 600 foals – while Linda, his wife of 50 years, is still a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy. And like other local seniors, he questions whether America, including the media, is putting too much into this age thing.
“As you get older you do lose some neurons, which can make you forget things once in a while or come out with the wrong word,” he admitted. “But even I sometimes forget the wealth of knowledge I have until something is triggered and you realize it’s been up there in the brain.”
Like anything, “age is not a monolith,” insisted Plum Landing Executive Director Alex Haughee, who believes society too often assumes once you reach a certain number, you can’t contribute meaningfully.
“And from personal experience,” he said, “nothing could be further from the truth.”
While acknowledging that Trump and Biden both have their flaws, “nobody is perfect,” Bruce Grider told me, adding that “it’s the experience, the ability to problem-solve that becomes more critical than being able to recall a date or a name.”
Then he made a point that, no matter what our political leanings, should perhaps be of greater concern to all of us who love this country.
“If you can’t get Congress to agree,” Grider stated, “it won’t make a difference who is president.”