Yep. All that is required, mostly, for older politicians to still be a force for good as they age, is for them to stay curious, stay empathetic, and make sure they're not always the smartest guy in the room. Their staff and so on can fill them in on cultural/technical changes as they become relevant.

As long as they maintain that, and their mental acuity, things will be fine.

I think this old=bad notion will look especially ridiculous and dated (ironically) as things are likely to get even weirder, faster, and sooner than we all may have assumed. I'm talking things like life extension, certainly healthspan extension, better disease treatments, etc.

But even if that doesn't happen, writing people off just because they hit some arbitrary "retirement" age is just short-sighted, and Bernie is a great example of why we shouldn't. He's 85. Imagine if we told him, at 65 or whatever, "okay, off to the pasture with you!"

I say: FUCK THAT NOISE.