There are plenty of videos of Biden looking a bit old and out of it, but most of these that I’ve seen seem to rely on camera angles where he’s responding to something off screen that we can’t see and hear.
Today, however, he forgot that the death of a Congresswoman for whom he delivered a eulogy about a month ago.
I have to admit, that’s concerning. Even if we might say that it’s more an issue that he’s dealing with a lot of stuff in the world and getting calls at 3am to make decisions emergencies all over the globe, so it’s more an issue of being overworked rather than being senile - I have to imagine that a younger person would be able to handle the strain better. Even if you’re not senile, that doesn’t mean that you’re physically robust enough to deal with the demands of a job that requires spinning a lot of plates and getting woken up at all hours.
Politics and optics be as it may, we’re dealing with a lot of hard issues in the world and the reality is that we sort of need an organized, competent, and mentally fit individual to be in charge of it all.
If the issue is age then he should step down and accept the reality that he’s simply not fit. If the issue is sleep then he should adjust the system and do more delegation.
I have many friends who have passed away and sometimes I forget for a minute that they are dead. You don’t just automatically place them into your dead friend memory space, sometimes it takes a while to sunk in. Especially when it comes to people you don’t see often.
I think Biden is acting exactly as you would expect a 79 year old to act. He’s not as sharp as he was 20 years ago, but who is? Is it impacting his day-to-day job? I don’t see that, and I don’t think he should step down because he forgot somebody’s name or whatever.
The bigger question is should he run for another four years? I think he should consider not running, but it should be his decision, and if he feels up to it, and it’s decided he’s the best Democratic candidate available, then so be it.
I did consider that but, as said, he spoke at her funeral. On top of that, if we consider something like when he asked the wheelchair-bound Chuck Graham to “stand up” back in 2008, he realized what he had done and amended his statement. Here, he never does (or, at least, I can’t find any source indicating that he did).
The thing is most of the people who say Biden is too old to run for President at 81 (which will be his age in 2024) want to vote for a guy who will be 78. It makes their declaration of principles seem a little suspect.
And like I told them about what happens if Trump was impeached - President Michael Pence (R) - it should be noted that what happens if Biden steps down in we get President Kamala Harris (D).
Nancy Peloei wasn’t going to replace Trump and, likewise, Biden won’t be replaced with Kevin McCarthy. That’s not how it works.
There’s no downside. You go into the next election with a younger incumbent who is the one that lead us out of a new cold war, fixed up everything after Hurricane Ian, etc. It’s pretty much all upside. As it is, it might already be Harris doing a lot of the work. We really don’t know.
I struggle to take any statement from someone who has said Jared Kushner is the most qualified person to run for president seriously.
I’m also sick of this notion that Biden is on his last legs. There are a lot of really able, smart people who just happen to be old. We’ll be hard pressed to find someone as qualified and masterful as Biden has been in his administration of government, even at his advanced age.
Show me the Democrat other than Biden who has the chops to rebuild a hollowed-out government, take on a raging pandemic along with predictable side-effect supply chain recession and ensuing inflation, an overseas unnecessary vanity project/slaughter of war against the Ukrainian people requiring the reunification of NATO which Trump very nearly pulled us out of, passage of landmark climate change and infrastructure legislation (with a 50/50 Senate, no less!), successful prosecution of a shitload of traitorous persons including a significant number of Republicans in Congress, massive misinformation infecting all aspects of government – just to mention a few – and we’ll talk.
I’ll just add that I saw a graph this morning on the news that showed confidence in government has climbed to 50%, higher than it’s been in a long time. That’s Biden’s doing, too.
Of course a younger person with the same qualifications is preferable. But winning is more preferable still. If no one younger makes their way forward within the next few months, I’ll stick quite happily with Biden. ‘Young’ is not an important qualification for me, not when compared to ‘experienced.’
I’ll admit I didn’t make it further than that first sentence. Apologies if I misunderstood your intent in posting that statement. I couldn’t get past it.