Jill Filipovic is the author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness.
Thursday's presidential debate will feature the two oldest candidates in history. Despite being roughly the same age, Donald Trump has tried to portray Joe Biden as old and daunting, and voters seem to care more about Biden's age than Trump's. And while Trump's “angry grandpa” persona is entertaining on TV, it doesn't exactly inspire credibility.
Ever since Franklin Roosevelt hid his wheelchair from the public, presidents and presidential candidates have understood that television is a visual medium and that aesthetics matter, but perhaps no other presidential candidate has made such an effort to convey a sense of youth and vitality to the American people, even as he enters his 90s.
In fact, entertaining candidates tend to win debates.
Part of this is simple vanity, but it is also our social, cultural and political reality: Male politicians are lucky in many ways: they can look outwardly unkempt and still be taken seriously, and in public they seem to grow more dignified as they age.
Men enjoy decades of extra life expectancy not typically afforded to women, but this election suggests that there will come a time when men, too, become merely “old men” – when “distinguished elder statesmen” degenerate into “old men.”
That is why both Biden and Trump are so infuriated by his death.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Biden, to his credit, doesn't exude youth, but he looks impressively good for an 81-year-old. His suits fit him well, and he's toned and in good shape, even if he moves and speaks a little slower than he used to. He hasn't dyed his hair a ridiculous color, even if his veneers are a little ridiculously white. The facial plastic surgery, probably Botox, seems to have helped, but he seems to have fewer injections than the average Fox News anchor, even at his age. Could he make his face a little less cold? Probably, but then we wouldn't be hearing Biden's wrinkle analysis forever. Judging from his clothes alone, he knows the power of a timeless look (provided he wears his trademark aviator sunglasses to the debates).
Trump clings to youth in a slightly different way, with his carrot-like spray tan, pale skin under his eyes, and his notoriously strange, gravity-defying, swirling, thinning canary-like hair. He is not a physically healthy-looking guy, and it would not surprise anyone to see that he has lived on fast food and well-done steaks. Despite being fabulously rich and famously vain, no one has ever accused him of being stylish, or even of wearing well-fitting clothes. I am not an aesthetician, but I doubt there is enough Botox in the world to soften the frown Trump has cultivated over the years. If Biden is trying to maintain his youth, Trump is trying to project an image, although it is unclear what exactly his sour lemon look and orange skull color scheme are communicating.
Men are also responding differently to aging. Biden has long positioned himself, honestly and to all intents and purposes, as a family man, and now the patriarch of a vast clan. His character hinges on being a faithful husband, a loving father (even when his kids are misbehaving) and a doting grandfather. He embodies a kind of “good guy” masculinity: a strong provider who is never too tough to hold his kids close.
Joe Biden's aging has been treated much more harshly than Ronald Reagan's.
Trump, on the other hand, is not the suave grandpa one might imagine. He's more like the real-life Fox News grandpas. Though his family has been caught up in his political rise, he has little paternal warmth to him. It's hard to imagine him rocking his grandchildren on his lap or learning their names one by one.
Just as he has left child-rearing largely to his three wives, Trump also appears to reject his role as a grandfather. This callousness would offend many politicians, but it instead reinforces the view that Trump is young enough for the White House and Biden is not. The fact that Trump is married to a woman nearly 25 years his junior, has teenage children with her, and is rarely seen with his grandchildren reinforces this image, while its discomfort is widely ignored by Trump's willing-to-forgive supporters and liberal opponents unwilling to criticize his nontraditional family and romantic decisions.
The intense scrutiny of Biden's age and the relative lack of scrutiny of Trump's age is an examination of how these two men are using the skills they have, how competent and professional they appear, what steps they take to appear young, not their actual skills or even their numerical age, but their vibe.
Former President Donald Trump
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
And that's where Trump really has an advantage: because so many Americans seem to interpret his manic outbursts of rage as the vigor of youth — and, more dangerously, to prioritize perceived vigor over evident competence.
There's something unseemly about micromanaging a candidate's appearance. Female politicians have been subjected to endless criticism of their figures, clothes, hair, weight, wrinkles, questionable plastic surgery, etc. Examining men under the same microscope feels less like equality and more like watching men gain an advantage in a race to the bottom.
But whether we like it or not, it's also true that appearances matter to public figures, especially when a candidate's age is a top concern for voters.
Trump's debate prep is full of complaints and fiction
It's easy to dismiss this as ageism, and in fact basing your suitability for a job on how old you appear (or how old you try not to appear) is clearly discriminatory.
But there's plenty of evidence that cognition and energy really do decline with age. Appearance is not a good indicator of cognitive health. But the way a person looks, moves, and speaks gives a general impression of their alertness. Wishing that wasn't true makes it so. And it's a legitimate concern to wonder about the wisdom of putting octogenarians into public office. American voters deserve better than two old men fighting over the most important role in the world.
But unfortunately, these are old men who, whoever wins, will be in their 80s by the time they leave office (assuming the next president lives that long), and tonight they will both be hoping they look good enough to stop the crowd from starting the calculations.
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