Behind in the polls, Congressional candidate Evan Low has adopted a novel, new strategy: disparaging seniors.

In a July fundraising text, Low urged contributions to his campaign by highlighting his young age, but instead all he ended up highlighting was his deeply troubling perspective, or perhaps lack thereof, on seniors and our concerns.

Low said “Congress represents the retired age group that is hardly affected by new policies compared to younger and working generations.” Seriously? Evidently Evan lacks respect and regard for seniors.

In our community, over 110,000 retirees rely on Social Security to get by in retirement. Even more are enrolled in Medicare, which provides life-changing, life-saving healthcare for older Americans. Together, those two vital safety net programs account for over 45% of the entire federal budget. Both remain under constant threat from Congressional dysfunction, chronic underfunding, skyrocketing insurance costs, perennial Wall Street privatization schemes and big pharma leveraging its political contributions.  Does Evan not understand this, or is he just lacking the ability to see value in the Senior population?  Either makes him a big threat to those aging or depending on Medicare.

It's not that seniors are 'hardly affected.' It's more that Evan Low hardly understands our community's needs and how Congress works and that is obnoxious and dangerous.

And it's not just Social Security and Medicare. When it comes to capping the price of insulin and taking on soaring prescription drug costs, older Americans are among the most affected. There are 2.2 million highly vulnerable seniors – those who can't leave the house or can't afford to feed themselves – who get basic daily nutrition from the federally-funded Meals on Wheels programs, and many more who miss out due to insufficient funding.  Evan does not know what he is talking about and that is scary.

For me, this isn't statistics, it's personal. My husband had a good career as a formulation chemist for a big company in San Jose before we tried to retire. We wanted to enjoy life and keep ourselves healthy, but it's a real challenge in these days of rising costs.  Like many people, I had to decide which medication I would have to do without to stay solvent.  The solution for us was to return to work.  Many seniors are returning to work to simply pay their health care premiums, and medication as well as creature comforts like shelter, food, heat, and water.

There's something even more troubling to me than Evan's lack of knowledge of Social Security, Medicare, aging in America, and Congress: it's that he's trying to score political points by pitting younger and older Americans against each other.

Evan Low owes Santa Clara County seniors an explanation – and an apology. Will he educate himself about how much seniors have at stake in Congress or will he continue to dismiss our concerns?  Will he apologize for his offensive, alarming remarks that seniors are 'hardly affected' by Congressional policies and pledge not to pit one generation against each other again?

Until then, let me say to Evan on behalf of whom he disparagingly calls 'the retired group' –  we have noted your inaction for years against responsible healthcare propositions in California and see that your kind of self-serving, divisive politics is detrimental to our health and well-being.  I highly recommend a NO vote for Evan Low.

Gina Gates is a San Jose community activist.

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