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this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
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At every age, there should be a cognitive test to qualify for public office at each election, at every level, including local.
Fetterman had a stroke in his early 50s, which left him impaired. It's not only about age, and age doesn't necessarily mean one is impaired. Bernie is doing fine, and I suspect several of the over-80's running for office now are fine, too. But, not all of them.
Age is not a strong enough determiner of mental impairment to disqualify one from running for office, it's just a convenient one. This isn't an argument for the status quo, there are better ways, and we should use those, instead of age.
EDIT: Furthermore, if you want actual change and aren't just here to bash on old people because they're old, you need to realize that since Congress IS populated by old people, and will continue to be so, the chances of passing an age limit law are practically nil. BUT, I suspect some sort of cognitive impairment test could pass. However, since it would need to be a Constitutional amendment, the battle is long and uphill.
Finally, my motivation. I'm 60, BUT I happen to agree that younger people would be better at running the country. Because, younger people are less jaded, and more empathetic. Also, as a Democratic Socialist, I don't want people like Bernie to be unjustly disqualified by age. And, I will happily vote for AOC should she appear on my ballot for any office in the future.
For me the main problem is not cognition but the greed and lust for power. Normal people retire to spend time with family, to enjoy their hobbies or to just rest. For those people the only thing that matters is the power they have and the money they can still make. It's fucked up. Look at Europe:
The only people above retirement age are autocrats in Belarus, Russia and Turkey. The desire of American politicians to keep working until they die is not normal.
Just looking at the numbers explains a lot
How would you prevent the cognitive test from being used to remove candidates for political reasons?
"Sorry, he failed the test because he couldn't sing the texas anthem"
You could maybe have the questions and answers public, but the voting public is poorly informed and educated.
You could have some sort of third party do it, but then the conservatives would spend decades corrupting that.
Yeah, or just Mississippi having 10 or so cognitive tests and by weird coincidence black people keep getting the really hard ones
Yup. Precisely why I advocate for a hard cap on age positioned around 65 rather than any form of test.
I'm a firm believer that the only qualification for elected office should be citizenship.
Term limits simple answer.