By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
McALLEN, Texas | He's up there, as they say in age. So, the question of whether President Joe Biden sticks to his announced plan to run for reelection next year is a legitimate question. He's 80 years old, old by any measure of human biology.
They (and this is mainly Republicans) have noted his slowed speech, his seeming momentary losses of where exactly he is, especially when onstage, his aloofness, his manner of walking and his difficulty with climbing or descending stairs.
Would Joe Biden withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, the one most see as pitting him against oft-indicted Donald J. Trump, who is only three years younger?
This from thehill.com: [ A biographer of President Biden said that while it would be a surprise, it "wouldn’t be a total shock" if the president drops out of the 2024 race by the end of the calendar year.
NBC’s Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press" asked biographer Franklin Foer, whose book about Biden’s first two years in office will be released this week, how surprised he would be if Biden decided to not pursue a second term in office.
"I would say it would, it would be a surprise to me. But it wouldn’t be a total surprise," Foer said, adding that "it wouldn’t be a total shock."
"When he talks about his life, he uses this word, fate, constantly," he said. "Joe Biden is a very religious guy, and fate is a word loaded with religious meaning. And he always talks about, 'He can’t say where fate goes.' And so I always, when I hear that, to me, it’s the ellipses in the sentence when he’s talking about his own future."
Biden announced his reelection campaign earlier this year and has not signaled that he was considering dropping out of the race. Foer said his book, titled "The Last Politician," describes how Biden was "underestimated" and how he used that to his advantage. He also said it delves into Biden’s career in policymaking and what techniques he uses to get things done.
"It doesn’t take Bob Woodward to understand that Joe Biden is old, and I’m not a gerontologist and I can’t predict how the next couple of years will age Joe Biden," he said. "I think what my book does is shows that he is somebody who, for whom - he’s buried in details. He’s somebody who is very technocratic, obsessed with the intricacies of policy. He’s a very activist president in that he micromanages a lot of the dealings in the White House." ]
I say Biden would drop out if Trump is NOT the Republican Party's nominee. Biden's calmer stewardship of the country after Trump's volatile term has been to his credit, and various writers for various publications have said as much.
But, yeah, there is still a long way to go before November 2024 rolls around. This is politics, and, in that unstable world, well, so much can happen between now and then.
Anything, really...
-30-
At 80, you are at the mercy of your aging body. It's all downhill after 70, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteNo way he drops out. Only a major medical issue would do it. Politicians can't just walk away, like boxers.
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote, we're a long, long way from Nov., 2024. But I would be surprised if Biden drops out. But, yes, a major illness would make a difference...
ReplyDelete