Well, call this one unexpected from The Atlantic, a progressive publication produced and consumed almost exclusively by Democrats.
In the article, titled ‘Step Aside, Joe Biden,’ writer Eliot A. Cohen argues that the sitting president is much too far past his prime to be taken seriously on the national stage any longer.
It’s not a matter of can he do the job, it’s understood that he absolutely cannot do the job and has no business bringing the American people along for another four years:
I am deeply grateful to Joe Biden. By defeating Donald Trump in 2020, he rescued this country from the continuing misrule of a dangerous grifter and serial liar, a man gripped by vindictiveness, lawlessness, and egomania. By contrast, Biden presented himself, correctly, as a decent, experienced, and entirely normal politician. He may even have saved his country. Americans owe him a profound debt of respect and appreciation.
He also has no business running for president at age 80. I say that with considerable feeling, being in my late 60s and knowing that my 70s are not far off. I am as healthy as any late-middle-aged person (admittedly, I cringe at the word old, which tells you something right there) can be. But I know that at this stage, I do not have the energy I had a decade ago. I forget more things, and if my body does not hurt when I wake up in the morning, a little voice in my head asks whether I am dead and do not yet know it.
Sixty-seven, in my view, is the new 66. It is an American conceit that aging can be concealed (botox), prevented (exercise! healthy eating!), or ameliorated (don’t wake Grandpa up from his nap!). That is rubbish. Plenty of studies (all available at the National Institutes of Health website) document the impact of aging on memory, mental acuity, endurance; on the production of cortisol and other hormones; and on the increased chances of dementia. Yes, exceptions exist, and we all know a few. But betting on being the exception strikes me as a gamble against ever-lengthening odds and, as the proverb has it, the triumph of hope over experience.
The article itself is paywalled so that’s as much as I can lift for the purposes of this post. However, you get the gist.
Cohen’s basic premise, as can be surmised from the first few paragraphs, is that Biden should take his “Thank Yous” from Democrats around the country for keeping Donald Trump out of the White House in 2020 and ride into the sunset without running for a second term.
Cohen isn’t saying anything most people don’t already know or feel in their gut. Joe Biden in July 2023 is not the Joe Biden of December 2022 or the Joe Biden of January 2020.
America has watched the decline of an elderly President week to week as he stumbles through speeches and delivers lines that seem to originate from the recesses of his mind where they allegedly make sense.
The question is why did The Atlantic even allow this article to be printed? Perhaps it’s the start of a wider wave of criticism among Democrats, skeptical that Biden would ever launch a re-election campaign, but now concerned he’s serious.
Can Biden stand on a debate stage against any Republican nominee over a year from now and seem any more coherent than he does today? It doesn’t matter if it’s Trump, DeSantis, or someone we’ve never heard of, they’re going to be sharper than Joe Biden.
Trump’s age often comes up in relation to Biden’s age as a rebuttal to criticism of Joe. However, Trump at a spry 77 seems to be running rings around Biden. Standing next to Biden makes Trump appear younger than he is, an optic that wouldn’t exist if Democrats nominated a younger candidate.
Regardless of the criticism, it doesn’t seem like Joe Biden intends to go anywhere despite the political vultures circling.
Then again, you never really know what’s going on behind the scenes. While plenty of Democrats would refrain from criticizing Biden in public for his re-election bid, there might be more concerns being whispered behind closed doors than meets the eye.
