No question the presidential debate was an East Palestine trainwreck.

Is there a person between 18 and 40 years who will want to vote for either of these two presidential candidates? Lies poured out of the big guy’s mouth so fast and furiously it was impossible to keep track. Garble leaked out of the other guy’s mouth, so it was hopeless to understand what he had to say. No amount of hard copy will clear up President Joe Biden’s muddle.

When two supposedly grown men of about 80 years old huffily argue over their golf games and handicaps in a presidential debate, discourse has reached a nadir. As to this portion of the debate, former President Donald Trump did not clarify what years he won his championships. Biden didn’t clarify what years his handicap reached a six. Neither identified what tees they play from. Biden snarked Trump can’t carry his clubs around a golf course, and Trump sneered Biden has a lousy swing. Based on this information, how should we vote?

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Why is it these geriatric politicians can’t give way to younger generations? Why did Ruth Bader Ginsburg refuse to retire from the Supreme Court? Why does Mitch McConnell want to hang on to his job when he’s as disabled as Biden? Does Nancy Pelosi think no one else in San Francisco can do her job? How much longer is Diana DeGette going to stick it to the ambitious politicians in Denver? Why is John Hickenlooper in the U.S. Senate when he’s in his 70s, even though that makes him one of the younger members? Power without end warps endlessly.

These politicians are going to be dead before the planet is unlivable, so why worry? They are unwilling to take actions necessary to address the impending climate catastrophe no matter how often early hurricanes batter the east coast or how many years-long droughts shrivel up and burn down the west.

According to this generation of elders, they are the “adults in the room,” — calm, cool and compromising. They have scared younger people enough they’re not having kids. Young people can’t afford medical insurance to support a family, can’t save enough to pay for kids’ education, can’t dig up enough money to buy a house, and are paying off their student loans into their 40s. Even so, these elder politicians claim they represent the common sense and pragmatism that will keep this nation humming. What percent of young voters believe that story line?

Lyndon Johnson knew when his time was up in office. He was born in 1908, became president in late 1963 when he was 55, and left the office in early 1969 when he was about 60. Biden was born in 1942 and Trump was born in 1946. Thirty-four years separate Johnson’s birth from Biden’s. Thirty-eight years separate Trump’s birth from Johnson’s. More than 60 years separate the births of today’s young adults from Biden and Trump. The spread in age between these two men and the nation’s youngest voters is analogous to the income and stock bonus spread between chief executives and their average-paid workers.

Young people in the late 1960s essentially forced Johnson to make his retirement decision. At least he did it and was pretty gracious about it. It’s not surprising Trump won’t give way with his sophistry. He’s a well-documented narcissist. As of now, it’s also not surprising Biden won’t turn over his fourth run for president. His mantra is that when he “falls down,” he “gets up.” Now, it’s dubious he can “get up” without someone younger grabbing his hand to help.

Democratic Party hacks, like Republican Party sycophants, have created this mess. They denigrated primary voters, mostly young people, who declared “uncommitted.” The Dem party regulars asserted their “we-know-what’s-best” wisdom. Now they’re scrambling to keep enough old Dems in line to keep Biden on the ballot.

Here are some young people’s reactions to the debate on X:

Matt: “two men near death arguing about who is better at golf to attain access to the nuclear codes. should i kill myself?”

Zack: “I like both candidates but I think we need someone older.”

Azn:” How did the conversation end up in golf?”

Christine: “Let’s settle this on the course.”

SSG: “Imagine if ‘who golfed better’ was the deciding factor for world peace.”

Aaron: “Looks like a scene from Happy Gilmore 2.”

Kabaivanoff: “Maybe we try not having a president for four years.”

FlapChunks: “One gonna die as a fossil, the other diabetes. Man we are so cooked.”

Tophyyc:” Can we all self-exit early?”

These sum it up for Generations X,Y and Z. Written by AB (A Brain).

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.