During the 2020 campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden’s age was no secret, and neither were the potential risks of electing a candidate who would be 82 at the end of their first term.
But as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) surged in the 2020 Democratic primary, moderates grew nervous that he would turn off independent voters and harm the party in the general election, and they took what they thought was the escape route by rallying around then 77-year-old Biden.
Now that former President Donald Trump is out of the White House, Democrats are reportedly starting to grow nervous about their septuagenarian leader’s electoral prospects.
The New York Times reports, “Many Democratic lawmakers and party officials are venting their frustrations with President Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda, doubting his ability to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing and increasingly viewing him as an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024.”
“Democrats in union meetings, the back rooms of Capitol Hill, and party gatherings from coast to coast are quietly worrying about Mr. Biden’s leadership, his age, and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time,” it added.
The report comes as Biden’s approval rating is hovering in the low 40s and below Trump’s at this point in his presidency.
Steve Simeonidis, a Democratic National Committee member from Miami, Florida, told the newspaper, “To say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality.”
Simeonidis added that he believes Biden should “announce his intent not to seek re-election in ’24 right after the midterms.”
While the Times noted that none of the Democrats who spoke to the paper “expressed any ill will toward Mr. Biden, to whom they are universally grateful for ousting Mr. Trump from office,” they “feel sorry for him.”
But apparently not sorry enough to try to mount a rescue operation to save his presidency.
It seems some Democrats would rather coax Biden into riding off into the sunset and start over with a new candidate in 2024.
The paper noted that to “nearly all the Democrats interviewed,” Biden’s age, 79, is concerning as they point to his gaffes and remarks about foreign policy that have been walked back repeatedly.
Shelia Huggins, a lawyer from Durham, North Carolina, who is a member of the Democratic National Committee, told the paper, “Democrats need fresh, bold leadership for the 2024 presidential race.”
“That can’t be Biden,” she added.
Biden has insisted that he plans to run again, but if he does not, the Times notes that “few” Democrats interviewed believe members of the party would just let Vice President Kamala Harris waltz into the nomination. Instead, it’s likely that there could be another massive field of candidates seeking to replace Biden in 2024.
But the Democrats have a problem if they try to kick Biden to the curb. How do they explain it? Does Biden just say that he’s done and politics is too frustrating these days? Does he blame his age? Or does he try to claim that he really intended only to be a placeholder and just said he would run again to try to avoid becoming a lame duck?
Whatever the excuse is, if Biden steps aside, the party would still have to grapple with selecting a candidate in 2020 who was either too old or just not up to the job.
