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<\/figure>\n\nSen. Ed Markey<\/b>\u2019s campaign released an ad this week<\/a> meant to tout his progressive support.<\/p>\n Instead, the ad \u2014 which featured quick cuts of his top endorsers, Sens. Bernie Sanders<\/b> (I-Vermont) and Elizabeth Warren<\/b> (D-Massachusetts), along with Rep. Ayanna Pressley <\/b>(D-Massachusetts) \u2014 only highlighted the progressive left\u2019s gerontocracy problem that has dogged the Markey campaign for months.<\/p>\n Markey is 80 and, after 53 years in elected office, is running for reelection to another six-year term, while Sanders, 84, and Warren, 77, are currently serving terms through 2030.<\/p>\n The Democratic gerontocracy issue is well documented. There was Joe Biden<\/b>\u2019s forced departure from the 2024 presidential race because of his age and frailty. And Dianne Feinstein<\/b> holding on to her Senate seat until her death at 90. And Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg <\/b>dying while serving instead of retiring under President Barack Obama<\/b>.<\/p>\n Progressives sometimes use the issue to lambast the Democratic establishment, noting several leaders in the House and Senate who are not overtly progressive and well over 70. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer <\/b>(D-New York), 75, is a frequent target of these attacks.<\/p>\n But Markey\u2019s race \u2014 and ad \u2014 expose another tension: Some progressives calling for generational change are less willing to apply that standard when the aging incumbent is a longtime ideological ally.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of folks were hoping that Markey would not run and would pass the torch to someone like Ayanna Pressley,\u201d said Aidan Kohn-Murphy<\/b>, a Gen-Z progressive activist who was a fellow for Markey\u2019s 2020 campaign. Kohn-Murphy is supporting Markey in his personal capacity, but the organization he started, Gen-Z for Change, has yet to endorse Markey.<\/p>\n Rodericka Applewhaite<\/b>, a spokesperson for Majority Democrats and a former Biden White House aide, recalled the pressure the White House felt as Biden continued his campaign despite persistent outside pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Democratic Party has a gerontocracy problem. Voters told us that clearly in 2024,\u201d Applewhaite said. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem across the spectrum. Obviously Bernie is often part of this conversation, so is Markey.\u201d<\/p>\n Applewhaite said it was up to Sanders and Markey if they should stay in office, but noted that the party\u2019s age issues \u201cdidn\u2019t start and end with President Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur party seniority-based system rewards longevity over renewal,\u201d she said, calling it \u201cbad for democracy\u201d and a leading reason \u201cvoters are losing trust in the Democratic Party overall.\u201d<\/p>\n Markey\u2019s age has been an issue in his primary against Rep. Seth Moulton<\/b> from the outset. Moulton launched his campaign with a video<\/a> showing him running \u2014 not subtle \u2014 and says bluntly in the spot that he doesn\u2019t \u201cbelieve Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old.\u201d And the super PAC supporting Moulton has been running ads<\/a> featuring Michael Connolly<\/b>, a former state representative who served with Markey 50 years ago, telling voters \u201cpart of serving is knowing when to step aside\u201d and \u201cEd\u2019s a friend, but it\u2019s time to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor Hebble<\/b>, a Moulton campaign spokesperson, said the prominent progressives appearing in Markey\u2019s ad were beside the point.<\/p>\n \u201cThis race isn\u2019t about the other people in Senator Markey\u2019s ad. It\u2019s about the choice Massachusetts voters have between re-electing a 50-year incumbent who will be 86 years old at the end of the next term\u201d or Moulton, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n And Moulton responded to the ad<\/a> with a video of his own that noted the industrial space in the ad was not in Massachusetts and, instead, was near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel conflicted in a very broad sense,\u201d Kohn-Murphy said of supporting a candidate who was 30 years into his political career when the activist was born. But, said Kohn-Murphy, \u201cI am not at all conflicted in supporting Markey in this race,\u201d arguing that the race is between \u201csomeone who has shown up as a leader in progressive politics\u201d and Moulton, and for him the choice is clear.<\/p>\n Cam Charbonnier<\/b>, Markey\u2019s campaign manager, did not respond directly to questions about the ad, but told us \u201cpeople of all ages and progressive leaders across Massachusetts are backing Senator Markey because he has earned their trust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMassachusetts voters want a senator with a progressive track record,\u201d Charbonnier said. \u201cEd Markey has that in abundance, Seth Moulton does not.\u201d<\/p>\n Leaders We Deserve, the progressive political group that aims to oust incumbents with younger challengers, is not backing Markey because, as founder David Hogg <\/b>told us, the age limit for someone they will support is 45, fewer years than the number Markey has been in office.<\/p> Read more Democratic think tank suggests accommodating restrictions on this trans issue<\/a><\/p>\n But Hogg, personally, hopes Massachusetts voters choose Markey.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we need a conservative Democrat in Massachusetts,\u201d Hogg said, referring to Moulton. \u201cAnd with Ed, he clearly has done a good job of courting young voters.\u201d<\/p>\n But, Hogg said, that doesn\u2019t mean the left doesn\u2019t have its own age issues. Sanders, Hogg said, should not run for reelection in 2030. \u201cI love Bernie, obviously, but there comes a time when we need to make sure we let the next generation lead and practice what we preach,\u201d he said. And he still supports an age limit for people in Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I don\u2019t want to have happen is have these historic progressives get replaced by more conservative people in a state like Massachusetts,\u201d Hogg said. \u201cWhat we are not trying to do is elect more conservative Democrats to replace older staunch progressives.\u201d<\/p>\n This is not the first time Markey has faced these kinds of attacks. When he ran for reelection in 2020 against then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III<\/b>, the older senator faced direct questions about his age. He dispatched them by picking up endorsements from younger politicians \u2014 see 52-year-old Pressley \u2014 and groups started by young people. Markey defeated Kennedy by around 10 percentage points in the primary.<\/p>\n \u201cGen Z cannot afford to lose one of our strongest allies in Congress, which is why Voters of Tomorrow is proud to endorse his campaign for re-election,\u201d Jackson Hurley<\/b>, top strategist at Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen-Z political organization, said when they endorsed in April.<\/p>\n We asked Voters of Tomorrow how a group whose goal is \u201cempowering the next generation of leadership\u201d and building \u201cyouth political power\u201d can back a candidate who first got into politics before many of their members\u2019 parents were born.<\/p>\n They did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n VT Digger<\/b>: Is the answer to the black market for cannabis allowing people to legally buy more? Officials in Vermont think so, and are now doubling the amount of cannabis Vermonters can buy in a single day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bridge Detroit<\/b>: The Detroit City Council passed a measure opposing the \u201cunmitigated use of Detroit\u2019s water resources to cool data centers without certain safeguards<\/a>\u201d as they push for broader regulations on the data center industry.<\/p>\n San Antonio Current<\/b>: I thought I had seen every kind of fundraising request. But I was wrong. Sara McGee<\/b>, a Democrat running for a Texas House seat around Houston, tweeted recently that she got <\/b>cyclosporiasis<\/a> and would tell people about it if she raised $5,000 in the next 48 hours. Okay.<\/p>\n I asked you for your coffee recommendations yesterday, and you did not disappoint.<\/p>\n First, my favorite coffee shop: Peregrine Espresso on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., is my local spot. But I would like to give a big shout-out to Bucklyn Coffee in Blue Hill, Maine.<\/p>\n Many of you said the same thing: Home is where the heart (and coffee) is \u2014 and the reason is cost.<\/p>\n \u201cI brew my coffee at home. I take it with half and half and a spoonful of sugar,\u201d wrote John Bowen<\/b>, who said a five-pound bag of coffee costs $42.99 at his local store. \u201cBefore Trump returned to the White House, generic ground coffee ran about $2.50 a lb.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe best coffee I drink is at home. The price is minuscule compared to coffee shops, and I can brew it the way I want,\u201d wrote Chuck Perso<\/b>, a reader in Virginia. \u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t complain of high prices when they choose the high-priced coffee shops in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n We asked the question because a new study found that five cups of coffee a day<\/a> is not only generally safe for most adults but may offer cardiovascular benefits for some.<\/p>\n \u201cI have reduced my coffee drinking over the years to breakfast only. I huuuugely look forward to my first sips after sitting down to my usual light breakfast,\u201d wrote Mark Shapp<\/b>.<\/p>\n Our favorite email, by far, came from Sheila Paskman<\/b>. We will let her take it from here:<\/p>\n \u201cI was in Harbin, China and was trying to avoid a crowded street by cutting through an alley. There, hidden in the alley was a little coffee shop. When I walked through the door, it was like stepping into another era. There were old-fashioned wooden chairs and tables with lace doilies in the center and a small vase with a single flower in the center of the doilies. There were lace curtains on the windows. The highlight of the cafe was a giant Russian coffeemaker from the early 1900\u2019s. The amazing aroma of coffee permeated the air while a big old gramophone played Edith Piaf \u2014 in French, of course. Coffee was served in etched, leaded glasses in silver holders. The coffee had a wonderful, rich flavor. The whole experience was etched in my mind forever.\u201d<\/p>\n This Patrick Marley<\/b> piece<\/a> on Wisconsin\u2019s Francesca Hong<\/b> is fantastic. So we wanted to ask you about it. Democratic socialists have won in America\u2019s big cities. But do you think that kind of candidate could appeal in more purple states? If so, why do you think Republicans are spending millions to help get her elected? Do you have concerns about democratic socialists? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p> Read more Trump touts children\u2019s investment accounts as he searches for a political win<\/a><\/p>\n