More than seven in 10 Americans favor putting a maximum age limit on elected officials, according to a survey released Thursday that finds people of all political backgrounds and ages think the cap would improve U.S. politics.
The CBS News/YouGov poll says 71% of Democrats like the idea and three-quarters of independents and Republicans favor it.
Picking a maximum age would be difficult. When given some options, the largest share — 40% — said age 70.
The average age of members of Congress is younger than 70 but that threshold would rule out about a third of the Senate, pollsters said.
It would also rule out President Biden, age 79, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 82.
About a quarter, or 26%, said age 60 should be the limit. Others cited age 80 (18%), 50 (8%) or 90 (2%).
Persons across age groups support the idea of an age limit and respondents believe, by a margin of three to one, that having more older people in elected office would make politics worse.
Given a menu of options, 47% said having more young people in elected office would make politics better while 45% said women, 41% said racial minorities, 32% said LGBT persons and only 12% favored older people.
The survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,085 U.S. adults between Aug. 29 and Aug. 31. The margin of error is 2.6 points.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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