I keep coming back to New York Times the story we quoted yesterday and which is one of a series of articles and comments that have recently appeared in the media raising alarm about Joe Biden’s grave weaknesses in the context of his re-election campaign. It can be read as a basic report on the divide between Democratic elites and their voters. The existence of this story could also be interpreted as a disturbing nudge. In case you missed it, the bottom line is that many, many Democrats aren’t sure Biden has what it takes to run a solid campaign, let alone govern for another four years starting in 2025. Again, here’s the resistance from Bidenworld (apart from the apparently ridiculous claims of the White House press secretary):
Let’s start with the second part of the bolded part first. The idea that age-related hand-wringing is simply exaggerated media bias, disconnected from voter sentiment, is truly misleading. The media raises this topic quite often because many journalists fear that it may constitute an obstacle to the victory of their political party in next year’s elections. And they worry about it because voters certainly do, too. People have eyes to see and ears to hear. They watched the president at work – or not. We’ve seen this time and time again, in virtually every poll on the subject. Just three novel examples from the last few days. Yahoo/YouGov: :
More Americans are now considering it Trump is “fit to serve another term as president” (39%) than says the same about Biden (27%). Since August, Trump’s health has increased by 5 points (from 34%). When it comes to fitness for office, more and more Americans see Biden’s age – he is currently 80 and will be 86 by the end of his second term – as a problem (52% say it is a gigantic problem and 77% say it is a compact or gigantic problem) than seeing the criminal charges against Trump as a problem (47% a gigantic problem, 64% a compact or gigantic problem).
Three-quarters see Biden’s age as a problem. Most say it’s a “big problem.” Just over a quarter of respondents believe Biden is fit for another full term. Here it is Siena College Survey voters in heavily Democratic New York: “Sixty-two percent of New York state voters said they do not think 80-year-old President Joe Biden is fit to serve another term in the White House.” which is a higher percentage than Trump’s. The poll continues to show Biden comfortably leading Trump in the Empire State, as might be expected given the concern that Biden will have an advantage among these voters. And then there’s something Spencer described:
Just 34% of registered voters in the US believe so President Biden would complete a second term if re-elected, 44% believe he would leave before it ends and according to a novel report, 22% are unsure CBS/YouGov News vote. By comparison, 55% believe the 77-year-old is the 80-year-old’s closest rival in the presidential election former President Trump, will complete a full term if elected in 2024. However, according to a poll released on Sunday, 29% believe Trump will leave before the end of his term, while 16% are unsure. Meanwhile, 26% of respondents believe that only Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president.
Check this out:
A novel YouGov poll asks what is the bigger problem: Biden’s age or the criminal charges against Trump.
Americans overall say Trump is impeached, 42-39.
Independents put Biden’s age at 43-34. pic.twitter.com/viXF0jFbq5
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 20, 2023
I could go on sharing additional data because the problem for Democrats is the flashing red lithe, even if the campaign dismisses it as a media invention. Democratic officials give reporters anonymous quotes like this for crying out noisy:
This was raised by one Democratic lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue the prospect that Biden could secure the nomination, then he would have to resign for health reasons. “The worst-case scenario is that we go through the nomination process with President Biden as the nominee, and then he is no longer eligible to serve,” the lawmaker said. “This is a nightmare scenario for Democrats.”
It appears that some leading Republicans fear that their likely candidate may be convicted of one or more crimes before the election, and some leading Democrats fear that their likely candidate will not survive to see the election (“death is inevitable” is quite a phrase uttered by the chairman of the Democratic Party at the Ohio county level). These points raised by Charles Cooke decimate both the “voters don’t really care” hand-waving excuse and the “age ranking” excuse that sees voter bigotry as the real problem:
And it’s not just that the public thinks Biden is “too old.” How @jimgeraghty notes that 44 percent believes that he will definitely die or have to resign in the second term; 22 percent think so. That’s 66 percent! We have never seen anything like this in the up-to-date era. https://t.co/lxenXhzzsZ
— Charles CW Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 19, 2023
We already had ancient candidates. Bob Dole was ancient – especially compared to Bill Clinton. It was similar with John McCain and Ronald Reagan. But the public did not think that any of these men were “too old”, let them alone that they will likely die or be unable to complete their terms. Twenty percent of Americans said McCain was “too old.” Twenty-seven percent felt the same about Dole. Ronald Reagan won in a landslide. In contrast, 77 percent thinks Biden is too ancient (it is 50 points higher than in the case of Dole, who is usually cited as an example of an “too old” candidate), and 66 percent it is not certain whether he will finish his term. The last time the president’s health was discussed in any similar fashion was in 1944. But that was a different era, the United States was in the middle of a world war, and the public was unaware of the extent of Roosevelt’s ailments. And unlike Biden, FDR was popular.
Have American voters suddenly turned the spotlight on age discrimination for Joe Biden, or were their concerns about his age based on the acumen and vitality he has demonstrated? Cooke writes“In the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the American public, the Democratic Party is on the verge of asking the country to vote for a president who will either die while in office or be so infirm that he will be forced to resign. Honestly, I have no idea how voters will react to this. This is uncharted territory.” He adds: “It’s a hell of a risk.” Yes, it certainly is. This is especially crazy since many Democrats completely deny the universality of this challenge. I’ll leave you with this:
Biden mumbles incoherently as he reads his remarks from a teleprompter at the United Nations General Assembly pic.twitter.com/XqovhtLQ6o
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 19, 2023
Was this the first time Biden read his previously written remarks? pic.twitter.com/4LdCXPTTXZ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 19, 2023
