Does Age Matter in Politics?

Michael Chugani November 06, 2025 09:16

Getting old can be depressing. Some people try to hide it with plastic surgery or cosmetics. Others accept that old age is a fact of life. It is true that some age faster than others, either physically or mentally. That was obvious during last year's US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Biden was 81 at the time, Trump 78, a difference of just three years. They were America's oldest ever presidential candidates. The debate took place in Atlanta, Georgia where I was at the time. I watched it live on TV. It quickly became clear to me that Biden had aged mentally and physically faster than Trump. His frail appearance, incoherent answers, unfinished sentences, and inability to challenge Trump’s lies startled me.

I knew soon after the 90-minute debate started that his chances of reelection as president had sunk to near zero, putting Trump, a Republican, in a strong position to make a comeback as president. Biden, a Democrat, eventually quit the reelection race to make way for his vice president, Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.

Hong Kong’s own recent controversy about the age of Legislative Councilors made me wonder if age really matters. The late US President Jimmy Carter was 94 when I interviewed him in 2018 for my TVB show at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He astonished me with his sharp mind, clear answers, and body language despite his age.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent who sides with the Democrats, is 84 but his fiery speeches, which show no signs of rapid aging, attract huge crowds at political rallies. He has been Maine's senator since 2007, winning reelection every time. Veteran Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is 85 but still serving in Congress.

Age does matter if a politician is obviously no longer physically or mentally fit for the job. That was the reason Democratic Party leaders and the party’s wealthy donors quietly urged Biden to pull out after his disastrous debate with Trump.

All 12 Legco members aged 70 and above have now decided not to seek reelection in the December polls. Some say they quit under pressure to make way for a younger generation of even more stalwart patriots. Others, including those who bowed out, insist they won’t run again for family or other reasons. It's pointless to speculate. People can choose what to believe. But it does seem odd that all those 70 and above have decided one by one not to compete for another term.

Some younger than 70 have also pulled out, giving reasons ranging from other job commitments to wanting more time with family. Some media reports said they faced pressure to quit for underperformance as legislators. I don't know that for a fact. What I do know is that most of those 70 and above who decided not to compete for another term have shown no signs of aging that make them unfit as Legco members.

Some have come to my TVB show several times, including Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Michael Tien Puk-sun, both 75. They had no trouble answering my hardball questions. More than four years have passed since I quit my TVB show to return to the US. I have not seen Ip and Tien since then, but recent TV interviews and YouTube news clips I watched about the Legco age issue showed they remain as sharp as they were when I last interviewed them.

As a longtime newspaper, TV, and radio journalist, I knew or recognized most of the Legco members. They made themselves visibly known and recognized by their performance in Legco. That changed when Beijing overhauled the electoral structure in 2021, paving the way for the first “patriots-only” Legco elections and the demise of the opposition. The only Legco members I know now include Ip, Tien, Paul Tse Wai-chun, Starry Lee Wai-king, Judy Chan Ka-pui, and Legco President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen. Some will not run again in December.

I wonder what faces I will recognize when another “patriots-only” election next month produces a new generation of loyalists. I don’t think I am facetious in saying Hongkongers won’t recognize most of the current Legco members even if they sat next to each other at a dinner party. That is not the fault of the people. It just shows the Legco members haven’t earned recognition.

There is nothing wrong with changing the guard in Legco, but age should only be a factor if a politician shows clear signs of mental and physical deterioration, as in the case of Biden. Bernie Sanders is older than Biden but still going strong at 84. Warren Buffet, ranked among the world’s top ten richest people, is 95, but remains CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He will step down in January. Fading ability, not age, should be the prime factor for people to decide the time has come to ride into the sunset.

Michael Chugani

A Hong Kong-born American citizen who has worked for many years as a journalist in Hong Kong, the USA and London.