How convenient that presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s proposed mental-competency test for politicians would kick in at age 75 — just below the age of her only other announced Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, and a few years below incumbent Democrat Joe Biden. Since the Constitution already specifies age criteria for federal elective office (minimum of 25 years for the House, 30 years for the Senate and 35 years for the presidency, but with no upper limit for any of them), Haley’s idea presumably couldn’t go into effect without a constitutional amendment.
In any case, the transparently self-serving proposal by Haley, 51, reportedly has already backfired with older Republican voters, a key block in the GOP. If this is an example of her political instincts on the national stage, she shouldn’t expect to last long.
Still, Haley has raised an issue that voters in both parties may soon have to confront.
