The Press Is Destroying Joe Biden’s Chance for Reelection

Shame on CNN and all the others

Sure, President Biden is old. Born in November 1942, he will 81 in 2024. The Republicans don’t seem to care that at age 77 Donald Trump is only four years younger.

On a daily basis, the media makes numerous comments about how Biden’s age should disqualify him from running again. Bill Maher, Michael Smerconish, David Axelrod, and others have been advocating for a Democratic challenger to primary Biden. At the same time, they admit that Biden has done a good job as president. They are literally killing the man — at least his chances for success by convincing the nation that his reelection is bad for the country.

If Not Biden, Then Who?

My concern is that the other potential Democrats are not yet ready for the office. Gavin Newsom is a victim of the nation’s irrational hatred of California, plus his previous marriage to crazy-eyed Kimberly Guilfoyle, (Donald Trump Junior’s current flame), makes his judgement suspect. I am personally a fan of Adam Schiff — another Californian — who is seemingly uninterested in the presidency, but a strong candidate for Dianne Feinstein’s former Senate seat. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has strong potential, while there seems to be an unwarranted hatred of Kamala Harris.

Sure, Biden’s poll numbers suck, and they will continue to go down as long as the press keeps harping on about the “age” issue.

The Best Choice at the Time

Joe Biden was not my choice for the Democratic nominee in 2020. I was put off when he got called out for plagiarism and hyperbole in 1987. With his admitted propensity for verbal gaffs, I was not optimistic that he could compete on a debate stage. I was also creeped out by his “old school” habit of casually touching women, like when he put his hands on former Nevada State Legislator Lucy Flores’s shoulders, smelled her hair, and kissed her on the back of her head. While not overtly sexual, these actions are no longer socially acceptable.

The one thing that Biden had going for him — in my opinion — was his relationship with Barack Obama. Their mutual respect, camaraderie, and friendship were genuine. When Representative Jim Clyburn from South Carolina endorsed Joe during the primary, I fell in line. At the time, the defeat of Donald Trump was critical for the survival of American democracy — and it still is!

Ageism and Mental Competency Exams

Even Saturday Night Live got on board with Mikey Day’s bit about Biden climbing a ladder on October 29. Sure, it was funny — hella funny — but it was damaging. I have a mild anxiety attack when my 72-year-old husband climbs a ladder, and I have forbidden him to climb on the roof for any reason. Yet, FDR saved our nation in the 1930s and 40s from his wheelchair.

Joe Biden does not need to win Dancing with the Stars to prove he is still capable of making sharp decisions on governing. This is ageism at its worst. If mental competency is a concern, then give him a battery of cognitive tests — real tests and not the silly one that Trump proudly passed, where people have to draw the hands on a clock and recall four random words. In fact, all Presidential, Vice Presidential, and Senate candidates of any age should be required to pass a comprehensive cognitive exam. Along with them, the Speaker of the House and every Cabinet appointee in line for the presidency should be required to take the same test.

An Impossible Job

Ultimately, Joe Biden has not been a disappointment. He came into office at an impossible time during COVID. Thanks to his leadership, the nation has largely recovered. Have there been problems? Of course. Any successor to Trump — and Donald himself — would have faced the same challenges: inflation, insane interest rates, a housing crisis, and immigration. My only major criticism of President Biden involves our nation’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and all the assistants, translators, and their families who were not evacuated as promised.

The Press Also Destroyed Bernie Sanders

Look at what the press did to Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary when he was running against Hillary Clinton and in the 2020 primary when he was competing with Joe Biden. All the network and cable media outlets railed about how unelectable he was due to his far-left policies. In 2016, my right-wing colleagues at the high school where I was teaching respected Bernie as a man genuine to his beliefs, whereas they had an irrational hatred of the Clintons. Did they prefer Bernie because they believed in the end he was easier to defeat than Clinton? Maybe, but we will never know because the press destroyed Bernie’s chances.

I was a Sanders delegate in both the 2016 and 2020 Nevada caucuses. At the 2016 Clark County (Las Vegas) and State Democratic Conventions, Party officials employed dubious practices to ensure their candidate — Hillary Clinton — secured the nomination. This included calling oral votes for Clinton when they clearly — in my opinion — went to Sanders. I have seen Bernie in person, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service to our nation. He is one tough old dude with the stamina to run our country, and born in 1941, he is older than Biden and Trump.

The Next Generation

Is America ready for the next generation of political leaders? Hell yes. And before all Boomers are excluded as “too old,” let’s remember a couple of things. 1) Biden, Trump, and Sanders are NOT Boomers, they are members of the “Silent Generation,” who were born between 1928 and 1945. 2) Barack Obama is a Boomer — but not a Classic Boomer (1946-1954), but a member of Generation Jones (1954-1964) — essentially a “Late Boomer.”

There are a score of old white guys — and gals — that need to retire from politics, like Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, and Nancy Pelosi. Sadly, the next generation is potentially more problematic and frankly quite frightening. It’s not fools like Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and George Santos that concern me. It is the likes of Ivy League-educated politicians who present themselves as ordinary guys, such as Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton. And even more dangerous are the christofascists, such as Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

The 2024 election will see the twilight of the old guard, and by 2028 pre-Boomer politicians will be dead, retired, or discredited. In the meantime, remember that wisdom and experience come with age. So let’s be kind to Papa Joe.