General Discussion

There are a lot of reasons, age being only one factor. JFK was young, good-looking, rich, the whole "Camelot" thing. He beat Nixon, who was older but not old, in a very close election. Subsequent elections were mostly middle-aged white guy vs. middle-aged white guy. Reagan was old-ish but defeated not-old Carter and Mondale; younger Clinton beat George Bush and old-ish Bob Dole. Middle-aged Bush the Younger beat two other middle-aged white guys.

Obama beat McCain, who was older enough that he thought he needed a young running mate, so he chose young but very stupid Sarah Palin. I don't know if she cost him the election but she sure didn't help. The second time, Obama, with the advantage of incumbency, then beat Mitt Romney, the older candidate who had the additional disadvantages of being a clueless plutocrat and a dog abuser.

In 2016 the contest was between a nasty old man and a highly-qualified middle-aged woman. Nasty old man beats competent younger woman, of course. In 2020 it was incumbent nasty old man vs. competent old man, the former vice-president. Competent old man beats nasty old man. In 2024 it's nasty old man vs. highly qualified middle-aged woman, again. Nasty old man beats competent younger woman, again.

Age doesn't seem to have been much of an issue in any election except maybe wrt McCain and the 2020 one, in which both candidates were unusually old for presidential candidates. I do agree that there is something of a gerontocracy in both parties, but the Democrats have been attracting some young talent. However, it seems like most of the attractive, interesting new people are women and/or people of color. In a society that seems to be getting more racist and sexist, will young potential candidates who are not white men have a chance?