Both parties have an old candidate problem
Washington Examiner
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The video of President Joe Biden‘s fall at the U.S. Air Force Academy is more frightening than most descriptions. Biden shakes the hand of an Air Force cadet, turns left, trips, falls to his knees, attempts to rise on his own, falters back down, and then is finally helped up by the Secret Service and Air Force personnel.
At 80 years old, Biden is already the oldest president in history, and he looks it. He also sounds his age. He’d be 82 beginning a second term and 86 when it ends. The Actuarial Life Table published by the Social Security Administration gives the average man a 67% chance of making it from 82 to 86. A 2 in 3 chance that Biden lives out a second term is not reassuring for voters.
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Former President Donald Trump isn’t much younger. He’ll be 77 this month and would be 82 if he served a full term. These are old men. Most voters think both are too old to be president. For Biden, somewhere between 65% and 70% of voters say he is too old to be president again. For Trump, the number is around 60%.
No wonder Trump asked Sean Hannity not to joke about Biden’s age. It is a huge liability for Trump, too.
“Age will be an issue if I act old and it won’t if I don’t,” President Ronald Reagan said when he was running for reelection at the age of just 73. In addition to his Air Force Academy fall, Biden has been acting plenty old.
There was the time he couldn’t remember the name of his own secretary of defense, just weeks after moving into the office.
And the time he made up getting arrested at a civil rights protest, a mistake White House aides were forced to correct afterward.
And the time he made up going to the Tree of Life synagogue after a shooting, another mistake White House aides were forced to correct afterward.
And the time he repeatedly called for Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski to join him at the podium for a nutrition event — eight weeks after she had died in a car crash.
These mental lapses extend to policy blunders as well. Biden has repeatedly said the United States would militarily defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese invasion, a huge change in American policy if true. Each time, White House aides have had to walk his statements back. He similarly said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” This call for regime change was also quickly reversed by White House aides.
In the Republican primary, voters will see Trump’s conduct on the debate stage and on the campaign trail. They’ll be able to assess his increasingly erratic behavior and rhetoric.
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But Biden faces no such difficulty. Democrats are not being given any chance to test Biden. The Democratic National Committee is not hosting any debates.
This is a huge tell. Biden’s party doesn’t trust him not to goof disastrously. Given the partisan nature of our nation, whoever wins either primary will have a near 50% chance of being the next president. Both parties deserve the option of a younger, more physically fit, and mentally sharp candidate. It is not too late for Democrats to correct their error.