# What's the maximum age of a presidential candidate whom you'd be willing to vote for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2023, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710 "2023-03-04T09:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/61 "2023-03-09T16:51:39Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’m saying _I_ would not be willing to vote for them. _That_ was the OP’s question. Perhaps my “set the maximum age” phrasing was confusing - I was talking about my own internal metrics, which I would adjust relative to whichever country is being considered. What would you do if all viable candidates were above your age limit? Or if you vehemently disagreed with the only one(s) who were younger, and mostly agreed with at least one candidate over the limit? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/62 "2023-03-09T17:05:05Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > What would you do if all viable candidates were above your age limit? Same thing I do if I can’t find any candidates I agree with politically - blank vote. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Or if you vehemently disagreed with the only one(s) who were younger, and mostly agreed with at least one candidate over the limit? That’s a blank vote situation. And if they’re proposing an older candidate, then we already fundamentally disagree politically, there would be no “mostly agree” if they mess up the fundamentals. I just won’t vote for old people, just like I won’t vote for White men (here in South Africa, at any rate), even if their politics otherwise lines up with mine. Gerontocracy is one part of the triad of things that have fundamentally fucked the world up, I see no reason to continue perpetrating it (the others being plutocracy and patriarchy). ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/63 "2023-03-09T17:22:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I just won’t vote for old people, just like I won’t vote for White men (here in South Africa, at any rate), even if their politics otherwise lines up with mine. Maybe this is a hijack of this thread, but how do you define that given that we mostly vote for parties rather than people? Just based on the party leader? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/64 "2023-03-09T17:24:17Z")
That’s who’s going to end up president, so yeah. But for instance, I didn’t vote for the DA in the last CT muni elections because … White guy. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/65 "2023-03-09T17:27:32Z")
That’s because of the choices- everything else being even close to equal, 85 would be too old for me. Even 75 would be too old. I voted that even 100 is not too old because it’s absolutely possible that things will be nowhere near equal - someone could run for the D nomination that I very much disagree with. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/66 "2023-03-09T17:29:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > But for instance, I didn’t vote for the DA in the last CT muni elections because … White guy. The white guy in that case being Geordin, not John Steenhuisen, right? Basically the top-of-the-list candidate? Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/67 "2023-03-09T17:30:23Z")
Yep, that’s right. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/68 "2023-03-09T17:38:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Same thing I do if I can’t find any candidates I agree with politically - blank vote. Oh, wow. I frequently vote for the lesser evil. Which is why there isn’t really any age beyond which I wouldn’t vote for someone. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710/69 "2023-03-09T17:41:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I frequently vote for the lesser evil. Me, too. If I didn’t do that, I’d almost never get to vote for anybody, in any election. Which I think would be a very bad choice for me to make. Political situations in other countries may vary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maximum-age-of-a-presidential-candidate-whom-youd-be-willing-to-vote-for/980710.md?page=3)