When the New York Times runs a piece that makes the argument that Joe Biden is just too old to do the job of president, you know Biden is in for some rough times. The chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, Peter Baker, is not a conservative-leaning reporter. He yanked off the band-aid and let loose with some hard truth – the president is not up to the task at hand and shouldn’t run for re-election.
The article is running in the Sunday edition of the newspaper, which will add some heft to its importance. For several weeks, articles about Biden’s age and speculation of a run for re-election have been the topic of discussion by conservative media, which isn’t unusual, but now it’s moving to the Democrat side. A New York Times article questioning Biden’s abilities is opening the floodgates for Democrats to admit they have a problem, both now and in 2024.
One bit of news delivered by Baker is that Team Biden delayed his trip to the Middle East so that he could get some rest. Does that seem like normal presidential behavior to you? Imagine if any past presidents, especially Trump, admitted they just needed some good nap time before boarding Air Force One and flying overseas. It turns out that Biden was originally scheduled to include the Middle East in his trip to Europe last month but Team Biden decided not to “unnecessarily tax” him.
The trip was initially tacked onto another journey last month to Europe, which would have made for an arduous 10-day overseas trek until it became clear to Mr. Biden’s team that such extended travel might be unnecessarily taxing for a 79-year-old president, or “crazy,” as one official put it.
Aides also cited political and diplomatic reasons to reorganize the extra stops as a separate trip weeks later. But the reality is that managing the schedule of the oldest president in American history presents distinct challenges. And as Mr. Biden insists he plans to run for a second term, his age has increasingly become an uncomfortable issue for him, his team and his party.
In other words, Biden’s mental and physical condition has become so frail that his staff has to limit his travel, including trips overseas. Baker uses Reagan as a reference point, since Reagan was the oldest president before Biden. Biden is now more than a year older than Reagan was at the end of his two terms as president. Remember all the press coverage about Reagan’s age at the time and speculation about his mental acuity? As it turns out, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease after he left office. It sure looks like Biden is on track for the same. It’s not something anyone should wish on someone but the reality is that Democrats can no longer ignore the donkey in the room.
We should not expect an immediate chorus of Democrats speaking out against Biden running for re-election but one is definitely growing. The writing is on the wall for the midterm elections in November and it’s not going to be pretty for them. That leaves their thoughts to turn to the presidential election in 2024. Who will run if it isn’t Biden? Their bench is shallow. Gavin Newsom has made moves to draw some attention to himself by challenging DeSantis in Florida but Newsom has about as much chance of being elected in a national election as Walter Mondale had against Ronald Reagan. Can you imagine a DeSantis versus Newsom on a debate stage? It’s fun to think about.
David Gergen is quoted in the NYT article. He just turned 80 himself and says that someone his age shouldn’t be in charge of running any organization.
“I do feel it’s inappropriate to seek that office after you’re 80 or in your 80s,” said David Gergen, a top adviser to four presidents. “I have just turned 80 and I have found over the last two or three years I think it would have been unwise for me to try to run any organization. You’re not quite as sharp as you once were.”
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It isn’t the first time Gergen has offered up such an opinion. He is saying out loud what everyone knows – someone that age needs to step aside and let younger people do the job. Frankly, I would say that the cut-off age for consideration as a presidential candidate should be somewhere in the 60s. That may sound a little harsh but think of the job. It is 24/7 and there isn’t always time for a good nap. We need a commander-in-chief who can handle a ten-day trip overseas without his (or her) staff cutting it short so the boss can get some rest. Sure, some people age better than others and could do the job in their 70s, perhaps, using the example of Trump. He was like the Energizer Bunny, especially compared to the current president. But, do I think Trump should run for another term? No. It’s time for the next generation to move up.
Not all are sounding the alarm around Biden. Some ‘experts’ are denying reality, as are some in the White House. Is Biden a “super-ager”?
Everyone ages differently, of course, and some experts put Mr. Biden in a category of “super-agers” who remain unusually fit as they advance in years.
“Right now, there’s no evidence that the age of Biden should matter one ounce,” said S. Jay Olshansky, a longevity specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago who studied the candidates’ ages in 2020. “If people don’t like his policies, they don’t like what he says, that’s fine, they can vote for someone else. But it’s got nothing to do with how old he is.”
Still, Professor Olshansky said it was legitimate to wonder if that would remain so at 86. “That’s the right question to be asking,” he said. “You can’t sugarcoat aging. Things go wrong as we get older and the risks rise the older we get.”
The White House rejected the idea that Mr. Biden was anything other than a seven-day commander in chief. “President Biden works every day and because chief executives can perform their duties from anywhere in the world, it has long been common for them to spend weekends away from the White House,” Andrew Bates, a deputy press secretary, said after this article was published online.
No, I don’t think Biden is a super-ager. His gaffes are progressively worse. He is physically failing, whether it is falling up stairs on Air Force One, which has happened more than once, or falling off his bike, he is physically more frail than in recent years. He is frequently dazed and confused. It was noted in Baker’s article that the German Chancellor had to point Biden toward the cameras to pose for a working group picture during the G7 conference. Another time, a reporter shouted a question at Biden twice and Biden still didn’t hear. Boris Johnson helped out and answered the reporter for Biden.
We can expect more frequent stories now about Democrats grousing about Biden’s age and ability to do the job now. It’s not just Republicans who are cringing as Biden speaks or moves about. There will be a mad scramble to find someone else to run in 2024, but not Kamala. I can’t imagine they will run her. In the meantime, the world notices the president in office now.
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