Stepping down apparently remains far away for Nancy Pelosi who announced this Friday in X (formerly Twitter) that she will try to win her seat in San Francisco, California for the 2024 elections.
"Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery. Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL," Pelosi wrote. "That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote."
If she wins the race, Pelosi would achieve her twentieth term in the House of Representatives, where she is already an iconic figure with more than 35 years in office.
Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery. Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote.…
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) September 8, 2023
In fact, out of respect for her track record, Democrats named her "president emerita" after ceding her place as minority leader to New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, after Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives last year.
Pelosi's announcement comes at a complicated time, as criticism against elderly politicians is 'in crescendo' as figures such as Senator Mitch McConnell or President Joe Biden himself star in embarrassing moments before the cameras.
For example, last week, when McConnell, 81, froze again in front of the cameras, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley mocked the Senate as the "most privileged nursing home in the country."
Furthermore, the episodes starring McConnell and Biden, added to the advanced age of other congressmen such as Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, have caused some of their colleagues, such as Representative John James (R-MI), to present resolutions to amend the Constitution to impose an age limit for federal offices.
Politicians are not the only ones who are worried about the advanced age of their colleagues. The public is as well.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that two-thirds of Democrats think President Biden is too old to run in an election again.
The term limits proposal is also becoming increasingly popular over time, with three out of four Americans favoring imposing an age limit on members of Congress, according to a Business Insider poll with Morning Consult.
