Direct voting is relative. Candidates are supported in the last 15 years also by companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC and coupled with campaigns getting more and more expensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance_in_the_United... that can mean that in practice it is not as direct as it might seem.

Not sure what is the solution, but if people say they would prefer younger "options" and they don't materialize on the ballots, that is a sign that the system does not work as intended.

Which really makes you wonder how well the system is really working. Of course I don’t know this but I feel like if you asked everyone, the majority of people would say that 95, or 90, or 85 is too old to be in congress. But somehow they keep getting reelected…

Incumbents have an enormous advantage. We would need publicly funded elections in order to change this.

Almost like people vote in people of similar age. Baby boomers was the largest generation far larger than the preceding and later generation.

Aging population means that many democracies will have more old than young voters. Couple that with the American culture of f you I’ve got mine, leads to a prioritization not on the future generations.

Because people vote for the party and not the individual in most cases.

why is my daughter (she is 12) not eligible to be a candidate in 2028? she has great ideas and is awesome all around