Biden and the recurring debate about his age before a possible second term

The Democratic Party has options for a "plan B" but allies defend that it is still capable of doing its job

MADRID, 25 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The accident suffered last week by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who fell off his bicycle before the cameras, has revived the debate about the age of a leader who for now maintains his desire to aspire to a second term in office. White House, although by then he would be 81 years old.

Biden already became in 2020 the oldest person to assume power in the United States, an argument that is usually on the lips of the Republican Party to question his ability to govern the country. Former President Donald Trump used it during the campaign prior to the last elections, despite the fact that there are only four years between them.

Biden would have already made it known to his closest entourage, including former President Barack Obama, that he will seek re-election and the White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, indicated this month that the current president "plans to run in 2024."

The presidential advisers are even studying when and how to announce this second candidacy, with an eye toward spring 2023, according to sources quoted by the newspaper 'The Washington Post'. If confirmed, it would repeat the times of Obama.

However, in the Democratic Party some voices have emerged that are critical or at least suspicious of a new four-year term for Biden in the White House. Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most recognized figures of the new progressive wave, has refused to speak out and businessman Andrew Yang, who ran in the Democratic primary against Biden, has pointed out in statements to The Hill that the age of Biden will be "a legitimate problem for many voters" in the upcoming election cycle.

One of the main advisers of the two Obama campaigns, David Axelrod, has also pointed out that age "will be one of the main issues" in the event of a new Biden electoral race. "The Presidency is an enormously demanding job, and the reality is that the president would be closer to 90 than 80 when he finishes his second term," he told The New York Times.

Among the conservative 'establishment' this debate is also around and the newspaper 'The Wall Street Journal' advocated in a recent editorial for "breaking the taboo of Biden's age", ironically with the fact that the Democrats and the related media have discovered "suddenly" approaching 80 years.

The debate also moves to street level. For 62 percent of Americans, Biden is "too old to be president," according to the Harvard-Harris poll published this month, which adds the age factor to the list of cons of a president who has lost popularity since last summer. .

Meanwhile, the media continue to highlight the attention that the US president receives to catch up with events, as happened this past Friday without going any further, when the president mistakenly showed the photographers a list of instructions received during a meeting with businessmen.

The paper comprised short, simple sentences of instructions to the chairman during the meeting that read "You take YOUR seat," "You make brief remarks," and "You leave." The president was also instructed to speak to specific attendees, ask them questions and thank them before leaving.

Biden's popularity fell below 50 percent when he hadn't even been in the Oval Office for 200 days and is currently around 40 percent, according to the Gallup polling firm. New challenges such as inflation threaten to further weigh down the president's image.

Tradition establishes that whoever sits in the Oval Office does so for eight years, or at least aspires to do so, so the fact that Biden resigned 'motu proprio' to re-election would be a milestone in US politics and could to some extent mark the path of alternative Democratic hopefuls.

The party has several younger options in the pipeline, starting with 57-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris, but for now it's not clear they would do better than Biden. In addition, it remains to be seen if Trump fulfills his promise and tries to return to the White House in the 2024 elections.

"Look, it's a problem," a Democratic strategist told 'The Hill', on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. "He's very old and everyone knows it but no one wants to talk about it for fear of offending him or anyone around him," he says.

Another Biden ally also acknowledges that the president "is older and seems older, and that doesn't give the White House a good image," but "it's all a matter of health more than age and I still think he can do his job, but come back to ask me this question in two years' time.

Be that as it may, everything indicates that Biden will try to show that he is still perfectly capable physically and mentally to remain president, a strategy that would frame his failed bike ride or his entries to the race in various scenarios.