General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: AOC has something to say about her older House colleagues [View all]crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)But if there's a large lack of representation then it does not reflect the country. This is why there are VRA districts and also why someone like AOC was able to win the primary in the first place (out of touch older white man representing a younger majority minority district). We don't have VRA districts that cover age.
It is the same as a jury of your peers. If a young black woman faces a jury of 12 old white men, then the outcome is probably not going to be fair. This would not be a jury of her peers.
For the current Congress, they are on average 20 years older than their constituents. To me, it means that their values don't necessarily allign. They also could be (and often are) out of touch on the current issues that young people face (see 40s baby Virginia Foxx talk about the cost of college and student loans for an example)
https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/the-115th-congress-is-among-the-oldest-in-history/175/
I'm a 1980 baby. My congressman was elected in 1980 (in his 20s). If I ever ran against him (not happening), my message would be "I've grown up since 1980, shouldn't Congress?"