Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in 2026. I seriously wish he would not run.
Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate either but even so I would prefer if he was even 10 years younger. He won't be a very inspiring candidate.
Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in 2026. I seriously wish he would not run.
Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate either but even so I would prefer if he was even 10 years younger. He won't be a very inspiring candidate.
I'm possibly the poster-child of arguing that we need younger candidates across the board. Yet, it is important to know when that doesn't apply. Cooper would be our strongest candidate by a clear margin. He would be older but not so old as to be unable to do the job; he could definitely handle at least one term in the senate and very likely could handle two. This isn't like Welch becoming a freshman senator at 75 in one of the bluest states in the country.
I'm fully on board with wanting younger candidates in general, but it's important for us to know when to make exceptions.
there's also a difference between the Senate and the Presidency. The actual workload for a Senator is not that intense and a healthy 80 year old can handle it. That's largely untrue of 80 year old Presidents, or Governors and CEOs for that matter.
Have you all noticed what Biden's been doing since the election? Contrary to how he seemed in and in some cases after the debate, his actions seem to show that he is really on top of things in terms of policy and government administration, and he's continued to do great things for the American people and American interests and not succumb to bitterness or apathy. Public perceptions and doubts about how he might have done as an 86-year-old shouldn't cloud these points.
yeah I think that's totally fair, and I think he was probably up to doing another four years. But the rigors of his presidency specifically clearly took a huge toll on him, and a 70 year old would've been much better able to handle them than an 80 year old, let alone a 50 or 60 year old. Covid, recession, inflation, ukraine, Gaza, January 6th, a difficult reelection all come together to be a particularly brutal four year stretch. Probably the most challenging since FDR, especially when accounting for how duplicitous his opposition was about every single issue. Plus running for President and being President are two different things.
none of our senate candidates this year were "inspiring candidates". It really doesn't matter, he's a popular two term governor and has won six times statewide. He could serve two terms and be younger than Trump will be at the end of his presidency or than Biden is now. We don't need to overlearn the lessons of the last four years.
John Hickenlooper was around the same age as Roy Cooper when he ran for the Senate in 2020 and unseated Cory Gardner in the CO-SEN race. He had served as Governor of Colorado for two terms prior to being in the Senate.
Hickerlooper unseated Gardner by close to 10% points (9.3% to be exact). That's appropriate considering how much CO as a state has moved to the left since then.
"Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate..."
This has only been true for Democratic Governors who run for Senate in solidly red states or Republican Governors who run for Senate in solidly blue states. North Carolina is not solidly red at the federal level, and we won six statewide offices this year (Governor, LG, AG, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a state Supreme Court seat).
Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in 2026. I seriously wish he would not run.
Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate either but even so I would prefer if he was even 10 years younger. He won't be a very inspiring candidate.
Nonsense; Cooper is clearly our best available candidate
I'm possibly the poster-child of arguing that we need younger candidates across the board. Yet, it is important to know when that doesn't apply. Cooper would be our strongest candidate by a clear margin. He would be older but not so old as to be unable to do the job; he could definitely handle at least one term in the senate and very likely could handle two. This isn't like Welch becoming a freshman senator at 75 in one of the bluest states in the country.
I'm fully on board with wanting younger candidates in general, but it's important for us to know when to make exceptions.
there's also a difference between the Senate and the Presidency. The actual workload for a Senator is not that intense and a healthy 80 year old can handle it. That's largely untrue of 80 year old Presidents, or Governors and CEOs for that matter.
Have you all noticed what Biden's been doing since the election? Contrary to how he seemed in and in some cases after the debate, his actions seem to show that he is really on top of things in terms of policy and government administration, and he's continued to do great things for the American people and American interests and not succumb to bitterness or apathy. Public perceptions and doubts about how he might have done as an 86-year-old shouldn't cloud these points.
yeah I think that's totally fair, and I think he was probably up to doing another four years. But the rigors of his presidency specifically clearly took a huge toll on him, and a 70 year old would've been much better able to handle them than an 80 year old, let alone a 50 or 60 year old. Covid, recession, inflation, ukraine, Gaza, January 6th, a difficult reelection all come together to be a particularly brutal four year stretch. Probably the most challenging since FDR, especially when accounting for how duplicitous his opposition was about every single issue. Plus running for President and being President are two different things.
They certainly are. I think LBJ was president during very difficult times, though partly of his own making.
none of our senate candidates this year were "inspiring candidates". It really doesn't matter, he's a popular two term governor and has won six times statewide. He could serve two terms and be younger than Trump will be at the end of his presidency or than Biden is now. We don't need to overlearn the lessons of the last four years.
John Hickenlooper was around the same age as Roy Cooper when he ran for the Senate in 2020 and unseated Cory Gardner in the CO-SEN race. He had served as Governor of Colorado for two terms prior to being in the Senate.
Hickerlooper unseated Gardner by close to 10% points (9.3% to be exact). That's appropriate considering how much CO as a state has moved to the left since then.
69 is young for a new Senator these days, could get 2 terms out of him!!
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"Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate..."
This has only been true for Democratic Governors who run for Senate in solidly red states or Republican Governors who run for Senate in solidly blue states. North Carolina is not solidly red at the federal level, and we won six statewide offices this year (Governor, LG, AG, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a state Supreme Court seat).
We are in a crisis now. We need our best candidates now. We can worry about 2032 if and when we make it that far.