Mitch McConnell is the longest serving Republican leader in the Senate. Ever. As healthcare has advanced and helped people live longer, it has also helped a completely unhuman being live longer, a politician. This can be seen in our current President holding the record for oldest to hold that office, and even 90-year old Dianne Feinstein, a California native, and the oldest member of the Senate until she passed away in September 2023 (McConnell is only the third oldest, now). “How does this happen?” is a great question, but “Does it really matter?” is another.
Firstly, Senate members have 6 year long terms, making it even easier for them to get elected in their late 70s or early 80s completely in charge of their faculties, but surprising everyone four to five years later just as their term is running out. Dianne Feinstein was going to end her term this year, for example, meaning she was elected in 2018 at the age of 85. McConnell is stepping down as Senate leader in November 2024, and will finish his term until 2026, not seeking reelection, but even three and a half years ago he likely appeared a different man to the public. Politicians are sort of like fashion models: they look 30 until they are 50, and look 50 until they are 70, look 70 until they are 80, and then there is only so much that can be done.
Well-timed press conferences and facial products weren’t able to hide McConnell’s freezes, dating back to the summer of 2023. For 30 seconds or so, he became unresponsive in two different press conferences. He is, after all, 82, yet his doctor Brian Monahan claimed that there is “no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.” Of course, doctors theoretically could be paid to say anything, and news outlets conflict about the truth of this statement. It is up to the reader to determine if “dehydration,” the doctor’s proclaimed cause, seems viable.
In the end though, politicians will come and go, and our immediate lives will suffer little impact most of the time, and great impact every once in a while. The sensationalization of Mitch McConnell’s illness in the press only shows the desire of the rest of the Senate to kick him out. Other politicians won’t let any old person fading in their mental capabilities stay until they die, and likely the next three candidates, each named John, are especially eager. “I plan to support John,” Sen. JD Vance of Ohio quipped, so all I can say is: It’s going to be John.
