A Paltry 26 Percent Want Joe Biden to Run Again: President Joe Biden has not officially announced that he is running again, but he may want to hit the pause button on his campaign and figure out the best way to address a skeptical and unsupportive public.
A large majority – 70 percent in a new poll – do not want him to run again.
Nearly 50 percent of these naysayers say that his age is why they do not prefer him to pursue four more years.
The Numbers Don’t Look Good
Biden, 80, is the oldest president in history. Almost three out of four Americans are against a Biden re-election in the NBC News poll. Even 51 percent of Democrats do not want him to run again. Only 26 percent support a new campaign to return to the White House.
Forty-eight percent of those surveyed said his age is a “major concern” while 21 percent said it was a “minor concern.”
Merely twenty-nine percent said his age did not make a difference in their decision-making.
Joe Biden Even Admits that His Age Is a Legitimate Concern
Biden has implored voters to “watch me.” He has said he will announce his re-election quest soon. The president has indeed addressed people’s concerns with his age as being “totally legitimate.”
Trump Is Not Popular Either, According to the Poll
On the other hand, former President Donald Trump also received bad marks for his re-match should he be the Republican nominee against Biden.
Sixty percent of those questioned said they did not want Trump to run. Only 35 percent answered in the affirmative that he should field another candidacy.
He is facing 34 felony counts for a hush money case in which he allegedly falsified business records after paying an adult video star to keep silent about her extramarital affair with Trump.
A strong majority of Republicans – 68 percent – think the charges are motivated by politics. Trump still gets 46 percent of Republicans who would vote for him as president, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received 31 percent.
April 25 is the anniversary of Biden’s 2020 announcement that he would run against Trump, so Biden may want to choose that day to tell the world he will officially start his re-election campaign. He may choose to do something more action-oriented than just stare at a camera and ask for support.
It would be not easy to show the country that he is up to doing something that would make him look younger. The White House once allowed him to ride a bike but he fell over while talking to voters.
For this reason, and other age-related factors, he may just take a low-key approach.
Other Presidents Have Showed Off Youthful Actions in Their Downtime
One thing Biden could do in his announcement is to take to the Delaware shore and be photographed close to a boat or even inside a boat.
I’m just spit-balling here, but other presidents have shown they can do vigorous outdoor activities to endear them to voters. This would compare him to George H.W. Bush who was often seen on his beloved fishing boat in Kennebunkport, Maine.
George W. Bush enjoyed clearing brush from the grounds of his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Ronald Reagan liked to chop wood and ride horses in his spare time away from the White House in California. Reagan had been previously shot in an assassination attempt, and he physically recovered despite his advanced age.
The problem with Joe Biden is that he has been seen on video not being able to walk in a straight line. His foibles and nonsensical gaffes on the stump have been well-documented. There is no Democrat aside from Kamala Harris who could quickly step into the role of a national campaign without skipping a beat. Harris has had her own difficulty consistently communicating well with voters.
Biden’s campaign manager must help the president look like he can handle the challenges of a grueling race. During the 2020 election cycle, Joe Biden often campaigned from his basement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he will not be able to hide and will need to answer pointed questions about his age up close and personal. Of course, Trump is on the old side too at 76, but at least he is often seen on the golf course.
One thing is certain: the American people are concerned and may even be frightened about another four-year term for Biden if this recent poll is an accurate indicator of the voters’ true feelings.
Author Expertise and Experience
Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.
