President Biden’s age has dominated the news cycle, and it’s time to move past that.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
Joe Biden is old. Very old. Crypt keeper old. He’s 81. He stutters, even if his mind appears to be sharper than those around his age. He’s very clearly aged greatly over the course of his Presidency, as many of his predecessors also did. But he’s aged greatly while already being much older than his predecessors were. All of that’s true, and after his amazingly bad debate performance a few weeks ago, it’s that topic that’s dominated the news cycle and overshadowed almost every other political news story since the evening of June 27. It has led to numerous political leaks, doubts about Biden’s ability to lead and numerous (and still growing) calls to step down from members of Congress, from some major donors, and surprisingly, from George Clooney.
It’s not as if the discussion, on the surface, is a ridiculous one. This election year, perhaps more than any other in recent history, will prove to be consequential in a way that may define decades to come for millions of Americans. After the events of the last month or so, that question needed to be asked and answered swiftly. It was answered by Biden in a letter published by him on Monday, July 8, where he declared his intentions to stay in the race.
That should have been the end of it, yet the matter drags on in the media, which I believe has failed its audiences during this entire debacle. They’re so focused on Biden’s age and ability to lead that almost nothing else is making it through the cycle. The calls for Biden to step aside aren’t going to go away, not if CNN has anything to say about it. And that’s not a good thing at all, and not because the question was unfounded. It’s because they’re trying to answer a question that has already been answered.
In February, I published a “Jake’s Take” deriding the choices in this election, although making it very clear that I think Biden is the better choice. I stand by everything I said in that column. And there have been further developments since then on both sides. Biden’s lost major support among young voters due to what many perceive as inaction/support of the war in Gaza and Trump, of course, is now a convicted felon.
Look, the longer this situation persists, the greater the chance the felon has of winning. Biden has made it clear that he’s staying in, and Democrats need to stand strong and persevere. All that this chaos does is benefit the fascist felon. The continued rebellion against Biden only serves to reinforce to undecided voters that the opposing party, as flawed and radical as it may be, is united and in total lockstep. They’ve rallied around Trump, and that may provide more reassurance to them than a party that is falling apart from the inside.
This election is going to come down to those undecided voters, and they are seeing an ugly portrait right now.
So yeah, Biden stumbles. He stutters. He drones on and on and sometimes loses his train of thought in front of a camera. He’s old as hell. But he’s the nominee, and if he has any shot of winning, the discourse around his fitness needs to end. His record speaks for itself, and that should matter much more than one really bad debate night.
Also, very importantly, he is not a fascist. His administration is not filled with fascists. If, for whatever reason, he does eventually have to step down, the country will be in good hands. That matters. The stakes are too high to get bogged down in issues like this.
Stop the madness already.
FEATURED IMAGE: A screenshot of Joe Biden speaking at his first solo press-conference in 8 months on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Image courtesy of CNN.
