It's simply that the silent generation and many boomers don't know when or how to pass things on to the next generation.

It's also that parties are weaker now, believe it or not. Voters' party identity has never been stronger, but the parties' ability to recruit people in and kick people out has never been weaker.

This means that the only path to power is to have your own team of loyalists, donors, and advisors -the party will very rarely bring those people to you anymore. And a politician immersed in that system for a decade or two very quickly gets surrounded with people who view him or her as a meal ticket and who need their patron to never ever retire.

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