Thanks for being gracious. I’ll reread the thread.
Biden is too old but the statement in the op has little to nothing to do with it
And even then a younger person with similar qualifications loses the incumbency advantage. And has to do battle with Harris and maybe Sanders and that primary battle may damage them.
I think at this point the best option the Democrats have is Biden running again… especially as he’s started to develop a number of legislative successes lately.
Yes Biden is too old. His speaking ability has clearly declined and that is a crucial part of a successful President. It’s not clear if the rest of his capabilities have declined significantly; perhaps he just struggles to articulate his thoughts but the thoughts themselves are lucid and he brings his decades of experience to bear on issues. Or it’s possible that behind the scenes he is pretty much out of it but has a reasonably good team that does the actual work of running his administration.
Overall his adminstration has certainly been tested but has come out OK. He has gotten a bunch of legislation passed and is handling the Ukraine war reasonably well. On the other side the Afghan exit was a mess and the administration bears some of the responsibility for high inflation.
If the economy improves moderately and there are no new big failures he will be in a decent position to win re-election. And there isn’t any plausible candidate who would be clearly better, certainly not Kamala Harris. But it’s going to be a nerve-wracking 2 years for the Democrats. At his age there is really no telling about his health over the next 2 years let alone the next 6. He could easily have a huge stroke or heart attack next month.
Overall I think Biden will be an OK candidate in 2024 and the best bet for the Democrats but there is just a lot of unavoidable uncertainty. It’s less than optimal given the stakes involved.
Gerontocracy is bad. Biden is too old, and so are Trump, Pelosi, Berlusconi, the late Queen, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Putin, Hillary Clinton, Joe Manchin, Mitch McConell, Bernie Sanders, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas… oh, I could go on. If he is the best the USA has, you have a problem. But you are not alone with that problem.
Biden took office in the midst of a global pandemic, on the edge of an economic cliff, a barely friendly congress, and with a world a tinderbox. He really could not have been given a worse situation to step in to.
He was sure to get poor ratings, as all the bad stuff that was already in the pipelines started happening, and people blamed him for them.
Now that things are turning around, in large part due to his efforts, people are feeling better about their future, and that makes them feel better about him.
Wasn’t George Bush Jr. quite a bit younger than Joe Biden? If you think he’s too old to be doing the job you should point to the younger presidents that prove your point. Even the good ones forgot things. What evidence do you have that he’s not organized, competent, mentally fit to be in charge? That’s a description of the last two Republican presidents, not Biden.
I think this points out the need for older senators, representatives, and governors to consider retirement at a reasonable age rather than sticking around into their 80s and 90s. If we’re having trouble picking out good alternative candidates to run for the Democratic nomination for POTUS in 2024 and 2028, it’s because the cupboard is mostly bare in those positions.
Of course Harris would be at the top of the list of potential successors. Looking at the list of Democratic governors, the names that jump out at me are Gretchen Whitmer, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Andy Beshear. For senators there’s Corey Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Raphael Warnock, Tammy Duckworth, Jon Ossoff, and Chris Murphy. For the cabinet Mayor Pete is the only name that stands out. Then we get into the house and various state legislatures, but those are much less likely to win a general election. So there we have it. That’s our list of the younger likely contenders in 2024 should Biden retire.
Categorical ageism and forced retirement is equally bad IMO. And, as for politics, some people will make a mockery of the institution at any age; it is not a reliable criterion for weeding them out.
Look at FDR’s last year.
He was only 63 when he died in office, but was quite frail for awhile. (I’m not saying he made a mockery of the office, just that we all age differently)
Biden’s doing a fine job in my view. He’s got competent people around him and is competent himself. It doesn’t take much to be better than the previous guy, and Biden is doing that by quite a margin. I honestly didn’t need him to be a superstar, nor did I expect greatness. Just do your job honestly and competently, and I’m satisfied.
My only concern about his age is that it might be a factor for voters (fair or unfairly) A DeSantos/Cruz/Trump win would be terrible. I was going to say “unimaginably terrible,” but sadly, we can now imagine it.
I don’t know if forced retirement is the solution but if senators never retire it takes away avenues for the next obama to get the recognition that comes from being a senator.
A bigger deal IMO is the bias that esp the democrats have towards picking senators as potential presidential candidates as opposed to governors.
Different people are different. Bush was young but he was also dumb. He could have had a great gift for speaking perfectly, without hiccup or missed word, and still have been a poor president.
But the alternative here isn’t GW Bush, it’s Kamala Harris. She’s young and she doesn’t flub her words. At the moment, she’s known for “not doing anything about the border” and “firing most of her staff, because she was looking bad, and going into hiding.” So if we go into 2024, Biden decides to step aside, and Kamala is the front-runner - she’s not really in a good position. She has very little recognition, at the national level, and to the extent that she does so far it’s mostly been unfortunate. I don’t give her great odds versus DeSantis, at this moment in time.
If she was the incumbent and, as President, had actually done some good things for two years running, then that changes. And, if Biden is still capable and politically savvy - just a little too old to deal with the day-to-day running of the whole organization - there’s nothing to stop her from seeking his advice on things.
I’ve been ignoring videos of Biden wandering around stages, I haven’t particularly cared when he got a word wrong or talked a bit slower than he used to. People mess up and Biden, in particular, has been getting his words and thoughts jumbled since he was a tween. That certainly does make it hard to tell where we’re crossing the line from “scatterbrained because he’s thinking about important stuff at the same time as trying to do not important stuff” to “senile”. I can’t profess to being a great, on-the-spot speaker and I also, likewise, get stuff messed up regularly and always have. That’s not really a young person or old person thing. Different people are different.
I could imagine forgetting about someone’s death for a moment…but only a moment. That he didn’t catch himself is concerning.
None of us can know how Kamala would do as president, if that ever occurs. We can tell already that she’s not a good politician and even if capable otherwise is likely to fall well below Biden’s dismal popularity figures. I don’t see what that has to do with your OP though.
You said that we need to compare to someone young. I compared to someone young who’s actually on the short list for the job. It doesn’t have to do with the OP, it has to do with what you asked for.
This, right here. I would be incredulous of an 80 year old’s ability to do anything, and that does not mean he isn’t capable for his age. It just means that his age is a limiting factor
I did say point to younger presidents, as if it makes a difference. You haven’t provided reasons to think Biden can’t do the job.
Do I wish he was younger from a physical health/stamina perspective? Yes. But I’m not too worried, partly because I can’t think the issue hasn’t crossed the minds of smarter folks than me.
To some extent, a dart could do the job. If you print out a large list of names, throw a dart at it to pick people for cabinet positions, let the Senate vote on them, throw new darts for every failed vote, and keep going until you have filled all the roles. At that point, they run everything and maybe use the dart when they can’t agree on a single choice.
The President’s job doesn’t need to be more than acting as a randomizer. That doesn’t mean we can’t look at someone and say, “Ya know, you might want to consider retiring.”
Correct.
This is not true, but it is what the MAGAs are saying.
No we don’t.
Let me state something- Another term of trump and American Democracy is dead. Does anyone disagree with this, at least in general?
Then if trump runs, the only person who can & has beaten him is Joe Biden.
Can any of them beat trump? No.
Booker shot himself in the foot with his crazy door to door gun confiscation idea.
Mayor Pete is a great guy, but he would lose against any Republican in a nationwide general election.
And bigoted.
I don’t see why based on your reasoning. Try pointing out something of significance that Biden screwed up because of his age.