Sue Lani Madsen: Time to hand over the helm

One of the easiest ways to run down a family farm or small business is to keep the next generation sidelined. Succession planning is critical to the survival of any organization, including political parties and countries.

Democrats are ignoring that wisdom in 2024, at least so far. The Democratic National Committee isn’t planning any presidential debates, discouraging competition and sidelining Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson in favor of older-than-a-boomer Joe Biden, born in 1942. It’s past time for the Silent Generation to remain silent, but they’re backing their man.

Republicans have a solid field to choose from and the Republican National Committee debates start Wednesday, Aug. 23. Presidential primary politics threaten to overshadow the local elections, like untimely Christmas decorations crowding out back-to-school specials, but consumers need time to get acquainted with this year’s options.

Savvy primary voters recognize the strategic goal is to field a candidate who will attract independents. Galling as it may be for partisans seeking ideological purity, it’s the independents in the middle who swing elections.

In 2020, swing voters voted for Not Trump. When only 31% in the latest Rasmussen right direction/wrong track poll think the country is going in the right direction, they’re primed to vote Not Biden. If Republicans nominate anybody other than a 76-year-old retired president, the country can avoid sleepwalking into a bad sequel of grumpy old men.

There is nothing about 2020 that I want to relive except a lovely mask-free Christmas gathering with family in Arizona celebrating its end.

So let’s survey the field committed to being on stage in Wisconsin next Wednesday for the first RNC debate. To be invited, each candidate had to meet RNC requirements for ranking in polls and at least 40,000 individual donors. The cutoff for qualification is 48 hours before the event; this alphabetical list is current as of Wednesday

Doug Burgum: Elected governor of North Dakota in 2016. Successfully made money, lots of money, before entering politics. He could live anywhere on the planet. Gotta admire the home state loyalty of a guy born and raised in North Dakota who graduates Stanford Business School in California then comes home to start a software company and stays, in spite of the wind chill. But as George McGovern discovered in 1972, the Dakotas are a tough home base for a presidential campaign. Burgum is a legit baby boomer at 67.

Chris Christie: Served from 2010-2018 as governor of New Jersey, also known as the “we’re not New York” state. Another guy with gubernatorial experience who never left home. Christie practiced law in a private firm and as an appointed U.S. attorney before running for governor. Born in 1962 and almost not a boomer.

Ron DeSantis: A Florida native son, re-elected in 2022 to his second term as governor. DeSantis served six years active duty in the U.S. Navy JAG after graduating from Yale and Harvard Law, and continued to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserves until 2019. The only veteran of military service in the current field, he was deployed to Iraq during the 2007 U.S. surge. After more than two decades at war, military service may become more common in future generations of candidates for commander in chief. DeSantis is Gen X, just two years short of qualifying as a millennial.

Nikki Haley: Another Gen X candidate and a daughter of Sikh immigrants. Although she was not in the military, her husband was deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard, and they also serve who must wait at home. Degree in accounting, background in business, former governor of South Carolina, also home-grown. Navigated an attempt at starting a race war while governor, confronted difficult international issues while serving as Ambassador to the United Nations. As a southern woman, has upheld the traditions of the “steel magnolia” in her political career.

Vivek Ramaswamy: Born in Ohio, also to immigrant parents. A true millennial with entrepreneurial experience who has never run for public office and dreams big. Earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard, then to Yale Law, the DeSantis route in reverse but without military service. Great to have fresh voices articulating a positive future in the arena, but his lack of political experience is his handicap.

Mike Pence: To the former Indiana governor and former vice president, thank you for your service but for everyone ready to leave 2020 behind, that means you too. Sit down, boomer.

Tim Scott: Currently serving as senator from South Carolina. Started his career in politics after first owning a successful insurance agency and working in real estate. He has a classic Republican bootstrap background similar to Ben Carson, and has been aiming for the “happy warrior” label of Ronald Reagan, the last Republican to capture Washington’s electoral college votes.

Trump has been arrogantly coy about participating in the debate; see advice to Pence above. Let the race begin, and the best woman or man win.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.