Joe Biden celebrates his 81st birthday
Is “Sleepy Joe” too old for the White House?
November 19, 2023, 5:48 p.m
As the incumbent US President, Joe Biden has the privilege of running for the White House again. But the old age, verbal misfires and physical stumbles lead to mocking and even malicious comments from the competition. The Democrats are looking for an alternative – could this beat Donald Trump?
He jokes about his old age. He ignores it. Or he presents it as evidence of wisdom and experience. But voters are highly skeptical about the age of US President Joe Biden, who turns 81 on Monday and plans to run for re-election in a year. Many are wondering whether the Democrat has the energy for four more years in the White House. And many party members would like to send a fresher candidate into the race.
As the incumbent, however, Biden has the clear prerogative to run again. It doesn’t matter that he is already the oldest president in US history and would be 86 years old at the end of a possible second term.
For a long time, Biden’s verbal outbursts have attracted mocking and even malicious comments from his political competitors. The former vice president often appears tired and has problems freely formulating longer sentences. There were also a number of stumbles, including when boarding the presidential plane Air Force One, where he now uses a lower entrance so that he doesn’t have to climb as many steps.
Also ridiculed by the 77-year-old toupee wearer Trump
The opposition Republicans, who deny Biden the physical and mental fitness for what is perhaps the toughest job in the world, have found something to eat. Former President Donald Trump now likes to show his supporters grotesque imitations of his successor, whom he wants to throw out of the White House on November 5, 2024.
Neither he nor his fans seem to care that the right-wing populist is no longer the youngest at 77 years old and keeps making linguistic mistakes. According to a September poll, 74 percent of voters think Biden is too old for another term. For Trump it is only 50 percent.
Many are also wondering how Biden will handle the double burden of being president and presidential candidate. The Brookings think tank recently wrote that Biden would have to make public appearances “at least five times every week” during the election campaign in order to convince voters of his robustness. Self-deprecating jokes about him being “800 years” old – or looking 30 – are not enough.
Economic policy does not promote popularity
In addition to his old age, the economic situation is troubling Biden: The USA enjoys robust economic growth and low unemployment. However, the sharp rise in consumer prices is particularly troubling for many citizens and is blamed on the president. Biden’s economic policy, promoted by the White House as “Bidenomics”, which, among other things, invests massively in renewable energies, does not impress voters.
And so Biden, who defeated Trump in the contested 2020 presidential election, is increasingly seen as a heavy burden by many Democrats. Most recently, a survey caused excitement among the governing party, showing Biden behind Trump in five of six particularly contested and possibly election-deciding states.
But there is grumbling behind closed doors: The Democrats know that they are playing into the hands of the Republicans if they openly question the candidacy of their elderly president. Especially since the question arises about the alternatives. Vice President Kamala Harris, who started with great expectations, has remained pale in the thankless office and has even worse popularity ratings than Biden. If, contrary to expectations, Biden drops out of the presidential race before the 2024 election, Harris would still be his natural successor.
Secret search for alternative candidate
But other names are also mentioned – in particular that of California Governor Gavin Newsom. There is repeated talk of a “shadow election campaign” by the charismatic politician, with which Newsom wants to position himself as a possible Biden replacement. At the end of November, the 56-year-old would like to have a television duel with Florida’s arch-conservative Governor Ron DeSantis, who is in second place behind Trump in the Republican race.
Newsom asserts that he only wants to help Biden in the election campaign and is not planning to run for office of his own. But there is no doubt that the ambitious governor basically has ambitions for the White House, presumably with a view to 2028.
Meanwhile, Biden has to fight against many doubts. But the president and those around him remain calm. They point out that previous presidents like Barack Obama also did poorly in polls a year before an election and were still re-elected. Biden does not want to admit, at least externally, that his advanced age could be the decisive difference and disadvantage.