Last Updated on 07/15/2022 by てんしょく飯
Everyone knows he’s old, but people around him don’t want to talk about his age for fear of offending him. But people around him don’t want to talk about his age for fear of offending him.
Impossible to operate in the same way as previous presidents
The story came up while I was in contact with an acquaintance in Washington the other day.
President Joe Biden will turn 80 this November; if reelected in the 2024 presidential election, he will be 86 at the end of his term.
He would, of course, be the oldest president in U.S. political history. At this point, Biden is said to be open to reelection.
However, many in the Democratic Party of the United States feel that he should “wait a little longer.
Even though Biden is seeking a second term as president, there are growing calls within the party for a younger leader.
Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic, a U.S. monthly magazine, puts it simply.
Joe Biden should not run for president in 2024. He is too old.”
It is no exaggeration to say that this view now speaks for many Americans.
A joint survey released July 1 by Harvard University’s Center for the Study of American Politics and Harris Inside and Analytics found that only 29% of voters want Biden to run for re-election.
This number is almost like saying, “I don’t expect Biden to be elected anymore.”
Not only that. In the same survey, 70% of respondents responded that the country is moving in the wrong direction.
Biden’s unpopularity is also attributable to the fading U.S. economy.
A year ago, the U.S. inflation rate was in the 5% range; now it has deteriorated to the 8% range. Fears of another recession are not easily dispelled.
For Biden, there are other bad numbers. According to a joint survey by market research firm YouGov and Yahoo, 64% of respondents said the Biden administration should not seek a second term.
Of course, there is still time to recover. The next presidential election is still more than two years away. There may be some measures taken by Biden in the future to regain his footing.
However, a look at Biden’s approval rating shows that it has been on a downward trend since the end of last year.
In a Reuters Ipsos survey conducted on December 2, 2021, approval and disapproval were tied at 48%, but since then his approval rating has been on a downward spiral.
On July 12 of this year, the approval rating was 39% and the disapproval rating was up to 55%, and if an election were held now, Biden would have to raise the white flag.
Some in the U.S. media are saying, “Joe Biden will not lose the 2024 election. Some in the U.S. media have even begun to make sarcastic remarks such as, “Joe Biden will not lose the 2024 election because he is not running.
Biden, like Donald Trump and Jimmy Carter, may only be president for one term.
This is because the Democrats are likely to lose the midterm elections this November and will not be able to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives unless the current political situation in Washington changes drastically.
The Biden administration will have an even more difficult time managing its affairs.
Moreover, even if Mr. Biden is inclined to run, his wife, Jill, is said to resist his candidacy.
She knows her husband well enough to know the risks and may try to protect him from getting hurt.
However, Mr. Biden himself has indicated his willingness to continue in office for a second term.
This is both to maintain his political authority and to prevent rivals such as California Governor Gavin Newsom from entering the race.
By the spring of 2023, that is, a few months before the next presidential primary season begins, Biden may formally withdraw from running for a second term.
If such a trend occurs, it will mean that it is time to hand over power to a new generation.
The problem for the Democrats now, however, is that they do not have a “strong savior” who can compete with the Republican candidate for the next presidential election when Biden is gone.
Vice President Kamala Harris (57) is not enthralling, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (40) is not encouraging.
There are veterans such as Senators Elizabeth Warren (73) and Amy Klobuchar (62), but they are not particularly strong.
But so far, many White House aides have expressed a favorable and positive view of Biden.
Biden still maintains his intellectual curiosity, and it is not uncommon for him to break the ice in discussions with staff members.
Even though he is almost 80 years old, he still works late into the night, and he has the patience to work on his own speeches.
As for Biden’s health, his doctor, Kevin O’Connor, has given his word that he is “a vigorous, healthy man who is fit to carry out the duties of the presidency, even if he does have a coughing fit.
He even exercises five days a week with a trainer.
But as he is nearly 80 years old, it is impossible for him to perform the same activities as previous presidents.
For example, Biden has given 38 interviews to the media so far, through the beginning of July.
During the same period, Trump had 116, Barack Obama 198, and Bill Clinton 75, all more than Biden.
Mark Leibovich, writing in The Atlantic, sarcastically noted the advantages of Biden not running for president in the next presidential election: “He would have the advantage of not running for president in the next election,” Leibovich said.
By stepping down from the upcoming election, Mr. Biden can refine his political legacy.
By indicating when to step aside, he will be praised for putting the interests of the Democratic Party and the nation ahead of his own. By doing so, his name will go down in history.”
What will Biden’s political decision really look like?
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