Why should America be worried if Joe Biden wins another term? Think Dianne Feinstein.
Joe Biden: How Old Should a President Be?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s visible decline into the more severe aspects of old age could raise unhappy reminders about Joe Biden’s fitness to be president.
During a person’s 80s, chances of developing dementia or other debilitating age-related diseases increases dramatically.
At 89, Feinstein offers an uncomfortable reminder of what could lay ahead for the president.
She took a three-month absence from the Senate, citing shingles; however, when she returned last month, it was announced that she suffered from a neurological disorder called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.
Feinstein took a leave of absence from the Senate for what she claimed was shingles. During a recent Senate vote, Feinstein expressed confusion when Vice President Kamala Harris voted to break a tie.
“What is she doing here?” Feinstein asked her colleagues, according to a witness.
Harris has had to vote to break ties for much of the Biden administration’s two terms due to the 50-50 split in the Senate.
Biden’s Age A Question
Biden’s frequent absent-mindedness and appearance of being aloof raises a cause of concern for Americans from both parties. By the time Biden would finish a second term in 2029, he would be 86 years old.
“The reason Feinstein constitutes a risk for Biden, especially among independent voters, is that she provides a worrisome peek into what the future might hold for any octogenarian. That’s not to say Biden couldn’t successfully serve until age 86, and it’s not to overlook his many accomplishments. But the president’s supporters tend to defend his decision to seek a second term by citing the wrong metrics,” USA Today columnist Peter Funt wrote. “In 2020, Biden might have been the only Democrat who could defeat Trump. In 2024, because of his age, he might be just about the only Democrat who can’t.”
Funt notes that Biden likely only will get worse with age.
Some Democrats such as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., say the nation can learn a lot from Biden’s age. He noted following Biden’s fall during his appearance at the Air Force Academy last week that youthfulness continues into older age.
“You know, America is a country that loves youth and vitality, you know, which is why we have laws against age discrimination because we tend to favor youthfulness and the new thing. In a lot of countries, people who have been in office a longer period of time are praised for their wisdom,” Raskin said.
Forty years ago, Ronald Reagan was considered of advanced age when he became president at age 69 and ran for re-election at age 73, quipping that he would not use former Vice President Walter Mondale’s “youth and inexperience” against him.
Last month, a Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 33% of Americans believe Biden is too old to be president.
Questions About America’s Gerontocracy
The word “Gerontocracy” has begun to enter the American political lexicon because of people like Biden who is now 80 and Trump who is 76, not to mention
“No matter where one looks—from the presidency to the Senate to the judiciary to the universities to the financial industry, and so forth—the undeniable reality is that leading American institutions remain dominated by older, definitionally out-of-touch generations,” Newsweek Senior Editor at Large Josh Hammer wrote in a recent column. “It is time to begin phasing in more private-sector mandatory retirement ages and to amend the Constitution to implement mandatory retirement ages for oath-taking constitutional officers.
Hammer continued: “The Baby Boomers have done more than enough damage to America, and we would be wise to move on.”
He is not alone.
A similar piece appeared in the Mercury-News on Wednesday questioning whether age limits should be imposed on officeholders.
“On the national political stage, age has increasing relevance. The 2024 presidential election currently has 76- and 80-year-old front-runners. In Congress, people are questioning the tenure of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. R-Ky., given his recent long absence after a geriatric fall. And we marvel at Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, an octogenarian so fit that reporters decades younger have trouble keeping up with her as she races along in heels,” Louise Aronson, a geriatrician and professor of medicine at UC San Francisco, wrote. “Of course, age matters. With each decade, our chances of illness, new disability and death increase.”
Aronson concludes like Hammer that a serious discussion should be had about how old is too old for our elected politicians.
John Rossomando was a senior analyst for Defense Policy and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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