The presidency ages people. We can see it in the photos of incumbents who entered office hale, hearty and young(ish) only to leave it grey, worn and…relieved to be leaving the stress behind.
But in 2024, there’s a real possibility the general election could feature an 82-year-old incumbent, Joe Biden, running against his 78-year-old predecessor, Donald Trump.
Hardened partisans look at such numbers and dismiss them as irrelevant to the issues each candidate will run on. But the broader electorate, which isn’t invested in Team Red or Team Blue, would much prefer that Presidents Biden and Trump hang up their spurs and let someone else run for their respective party’s nomination.
A Morning Consult poll from earlier this month shows that, even while Republicans favor Trump over all comers for the 2024 nomination, 53 percent said he should “definitely not” run. Twelve percent said Trump should “probably not” run.
For Biden, the numbers add up exactly the same way: 45 percent of Democrats say he should “definitely not run” and another 20 percent say Biden should “probably not” run for reelection.
As always, polls capture sentiment at a moment in time, and the numbers will change.
But as things stand right now, there seems to be a bipartisan consensus that the change America wants is for new major party presidential nominees. Whether the primaries yield such a result is an open question. And until proven otherwise – through actual votes cast in primaries – both Biden and Trump must be considered the frontrunners for their respective nominations.
For perspective, when he left office in 1989, Ronald Reagan, at age 77, was the oldest White House occupant in history. Biden is, so far, the oldest ever elected to a first term. He was 78 when took office in 2021.
Yes, we can all learn lessons from our elders, age is just a number, and so on. But eventually, and inevitably, the gerontocracy must be replaced. The question for us to consider as the presidential race begins to take shape: Is the time for a new generation of leaders now? And if not now, when?
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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I’m in favor of a mandatory Federal Retirement Age of 70 for all Federal Office Holders and employees. This holding office until you die crap has got to stop.
I don’t think it’s age that matters as much as how those years have or have not taken a toll on the ii dividual. We all know people in their 80s who are still as sharp ias they were at 40, and people in their 40s who act more like they’re 80.
Although I’m not rooting for Trump, there’s no denying that he is decades younger than Biden in terms of physical stamina and mental acuity. Biden is an old man, while Trump seems to be in his prime.
We SHOULD judge presidential candidates on their abilities to run the country, including their physical stamina and mental abilities. I’m just not sure you can define that by their actual age.
The primary will be a stress test for Trump (assuming that he doesn’t spend al his time hiding in a basement). Age alone is not a valid measure.