When discussing President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and others, when do decades of experience and the number of trips they’ve made around the sun become less of an asset and more of a liability?
Politics :
President Biden is 80. His likely Republican challenger for next year’s presidential election, Donald Trump, is 77. GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is 81. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is 90. Needless to say, it’s time to discuss the “age” of politics and when old is perhaps too old.
Sen. Feinstein of California was once a feisty, fiery, no-nonsense political leader who no one would dare to cross. Nowadays, the 90-year-old senator barely knows where she is at times and has to be directed by aides or fellow senators on how to vote while on the Senate floor.
The 77-year-old Trump is nothing short of delusional and will be 83 (at the end of his term) if he is re-elected to The White House and doesn’t have to spend the rest of his life in prison for myriad crimes.
However, it’s President Biden and Sen. McConnell — 2 of the most prominent leaders in American politics today — who require the most urgent focus. Let’s take a look:
PRESIDENT BIDEN
Joe Biden has been a stutterer all of his life. However, at the ripe old age of 80, his vocal stammers and foggy mental lapses of late regularly appear magnified tenfold. Now, Democratic leaders are quietly beginning to wonder if the oldest president in US history is not only a winning candidate in 2024 but capable of surviving until 2029.
Interestingly, voters are also having the same bit of trepidation.
According to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 77% of respondents believe Mr. Biden is too old for the rigors of a 2nd term as president. Interestingly, voters aren’t far behind in acknowledging that Donald Trump’s age also works against him in his quest to once again become the leader of the free world.
Mr. Biden sometimes appears moderately frail and as if his walk is labored. He frequently forgets names, has fallen on a few occasions, and recently admitted that he is feeling “tired.”
His public persona reflects “physical decline and time’s dulling of mental faculties that no pill or exercise regime can resist,” said author Franklin Foer.
Although it may be difficult to consider, it’s very valid to wonder if the president’s health — or life — will make it to 2029.
SEN. McCONNELL
In July of this year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell surprised the political world by going into a daze and “freezing up” during a press conference. It was even more surprising when it happened a 2nd time during another question-and-answer session only a few weeks later.
The 1st “freeze” occurred during a news conference on Capitol Hill, when Mitch went silent for 19 seconds before he was escorted away from the cameras by his confused colleagues. The 2nd freeze happened during an event in Covington, KY when reporters asked the senator if he was planning to run for re-election in 2026. That’s when Mitch abruptly stopped speaking for about 30 seconds, stood motionless, stared into space, then gripped his lectern with his mouth pursed and his eyes fixed. He was clearly in some sort of severe distress.
Following the dual freeze events, The New York Times said Mitch McConnell looked “thinner and paler than he has in recent months,” and “appeared increasingly diminished and frail after a series of falls and a serious head injury this year.”
However, the McConnell team attempted to downplay the 2 strange episodes by releasing a letter from Attending Physician of Congress Brian Monahan, which all but gave the senator a clean bill of health.
“My examination of you following your August 30, 2023 episode included several medical evaluations,” the letter began. “There is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, [transient ischemic attack] or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease,” it concluded.
Interestingly, CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner was not convinced.
During an appearance on CNN’s OutFront, Dr. Reiner pointed out that the congressional doctor chose his words very carefully and was not completely forthright in his explanation.
“What Dr. Monahan wrote was there is no evidence [Sen. McConnell had] a seizure, although clinically that is what it really appears to be,” Reiner said. “The senator is really the principal member of his caucus in a very tightly held United States Senate and concerns about his health really resonate with the public, so I think they should be a little bit more transparent about where he is right now,” he added.
Democrats have placed their fate in the hands of 80-year-old Joe Biden, while Republican lawmakers have put their trust in 81-year-old Mitch McConnell — 2 men who are clearly and rather publicly experiencing the effects of their advanced age.
So, the question remains: how old is too old?
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Are Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden too old for public office?
Great topic DJ and great question:
How old is too old?
I don’t know the exact age – I need to give it a little more thought. But I do know this – all of the people DJ points to in his post are definitely too old, including Biden.
And here’s where “WE The People” have boxed ourselves in. Even today Biden is still probably the only man who can beat a depraved and dangerous imbecile – Trump.
What does that say about Us?!