Just How Young Is Too Young?
Posted by David on Nov 1st, 2007
2007
Nov 1
The Northeastern Ohio city of Streetsboro is trying to pass a measure requiring candidates for mayor or council to be at least 23 years old, instead of the state minimum of 18. The effort was started after a 19 year old man ran for mayor and missed making the general election by a single vote.
Honestly I think this is completely unnecessary and idiotic. Anyone between the age of 18-23 is already going to be facing a huge disadvantage, if they can still manage to win an election they have just as much right to that seat as anyone else. Such a provision would only increase the feeling of apathy among young voters.
Read More: ONN, Ohio News Now - Too Young To Run
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:59 am
Just to be an antagonist, why stop at the mayoral race? Why not extend this to the presidency, which currently has a lower age limit of 35?
I remember when I turned 35, I had been telling everyone for weeks that I was going to run for president. My wife surprised me with a cookout (me doing the cooking) and all the neighbors came over wearing paper bags over the heads with signs “Randy for President!”
Unfortunately, it was 2 years to the next election, and by the time I was 37, the urge to be president had worn off. Now if I could have been elected king…..
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Lets just start out one step at a time. This town is trying to make a new age restriction while the one on the presidency has been around a while.
In the future I think opening up the presidency requirements would be a good idea. Again, just because they can run doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to win. Although it can’t be opened so much as to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run, I can’t take 4-8 more years of people doing bad impressions of him.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
[...] a little while back I defended a young persons right to run for office, now I might have to eat those words. An 18-year-old high school student, Chelsi Smith of New [...]
January 6th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
We send them off to war, why not a political office!
January 6th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
That arguments been around a long time, but it still rings true.