Last fall, I was at a dinner that included former Biden administration officials and Democratic donors, and naturally the conversation turned to President Biden’s age and reelection prospects. The former official said that from inside the White House, where people experience the policy-making process firsthand, Biden is overwhelmingly seen as a capable leader who should run again. Meanwhile, donors mostly saw Biden at fundraisers, where the president’s meandering speeches left them feeling fearful about the upcoming campaign. I think the gap in their perceptions speaks to the fact that Biden’s age impairs his ability to campaign far more than his ability to govern, creating an impossible dilemma for Democrats. think.
I have argued since 2022 that Biden is too old to run again, but there has never been any indication that his advanced age will affect his performance in office. I am not aware of any leaks from the White House that suggest Mr. Biden is confused, exhausted, or forgetful when setting priorities or making decisions. It’s not just Democrats who find Biden’s frail, halting image more impressive up close than the media portrays him. Politico reported on ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: “McCarthy publicly mocked Biden’s age and mental acuity, especially on sensitive issues, while speaking to allies. He said privately that he found the president incisive and substantive during the conversation. It’s clear that there are things Biden is doing that I don’t agree with. I wish he had taken a tougher stance against Israel regarding civilian casualties in Gaza. But while Biden’s reluctance to criticize Israel in public may stem from an anachronistic view of the country, Biden is a former Labor Zionist prime minister who resigned 50 years ago, Golda Meir. Although he likes to talk about things, his position is in the mainstream of the Democratic Party and cannot be attributed to aging.
Mr. Biden has delivered on many of the Democratic Party’s priorities, and there is a serious push within the party to unseat him and give up the advantage of incumbency in favor of a potentially damaging primary. There was never any pressure. But to most people watching the president from afar, it is clear that he appears weak and declining, and that his well-known gaffes have worsened. Poll after poll showed voters were very concerned about his age. That’s why special counsel Robert Hur’s baseless disparagement of Biden, who might seem to jurors like a “sympathetic, well-meaning old man with a poor memory,” sparked controversy among Democrats. It caused a huge uproar. His words brought to the surface deep and terrifying doubts about Biden’s ability to carry out the most important part of the job: defeating Donald Trump.
That’s true even though the report by Hoare, a former Trump appointee appointed by Merrick Garland to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, appears to be a partisan hit piece. (Democratic attorneys general have a terrible habit of appointing Republican special counsels to project their own impartiality, a kind of moral grooming that Republican administrations are rarely the victims of. ) In response to Ha’s decision not to charge Biden with any crime, the following comments were made: Biden’s age, especially his claim that Biden couldn’t remember the year his son Beau died, seemed designed to make him politically unpopular. If so, it worked.
Some Democrats are now comparing the media’s obsession with Biden’s age to the saturated coverage of Hillary Clinton’s emails eight years ago, but there are similarities. Betty Friedan wrote that “housewifery expands to fill available time,” and the same is true of bad political news. President Trump’s scandals are so diverse that it is easy to downplay each one, but the weaknesses and blunders of his opponents can be examined in detail precisely because they are small in number. This asymmetry worked in Trump’s favor in 2016, and it’s still helping him now.
But there are also key differences between the Clinton emails and the Biden era. Clinton’s vulnerability was not actually due to her insufficient attention to information security protocols. Rather, her email became a symbol of a powerful but inadequate feeling, amplified by disproportionate media attention, that she was evil and deceitful. Biden’s age is a simpler issue. People think he is too old because of his looks and voice. Pretending it doesn’t matter doesn’t make voters any less worried. It just makes them feel cheated.
Instead, the Biden campaign should talk candidly about the challenges of aging, and of course President Trump, who has become increasingly incoherent, should do the same, while also demonstrating Biden’s judgment and grasp of complex issues. We should do our best to show that our forces are still strong. That means holding more interviews and events, especially ones focused on policy questions, to give the American public a version of Biden that appears to those who work with him. He’ll almost certainly make a lot of gaffes, but when they add up, they may start to seem like old news, especially if he’s not defensive about them.
And what if he’s not willing to make a major change in strategy? It may sound extreme, but in that case he would have to find a medical excuse to step down before the Democratic convention chooses his successor. Biden’s greatest contribution to this country is saving us from another Trump term. If his unwillingness to face his own limitations now paved the way for Trump’s return to power, it would not just be a mistake, it would be a tragedy.