A stunning 64% of Democratic voters nationwide tell pollsters that Joe Biden is not their preferred 2024 choice. One doesn’t need to be sour on Biden’s performance almost halfway through his first term or worried about a red wave in the midterms to urge challengers to offer themselves as alternative standard-bearers. No matter whom the party ultimately nominates, competition will be healthy for Democrats, the country and even for Biden himself, and ought not be viewed as some grave betrayal.
Among voters of all persuasions, Biden’s job approval now sits at a Trumanesque 33%, likely a combination of exasperation over stubborn inflation eroding wage gains, right-leaning voters wrongly convinced he is a tool of the far left and left-leaning voters frustrated at his and his party’s failure to accomplish more big things while in control of the White House, the House and (most narrowly) the Senate.
But an understandable consensus concern, the top reason for reservations, is 79-year-old Biden’s age. He’d be 81 when facing off against the Republican nominee, quite likely an old but brutal campaigner named Donald Trump or maybe someone much more adept at connecting with younger voters. And he’d be 82 if and when he’s sworn in for a second term, only to be tested further.
Older people can accomplish great things, and aides say Biden remains in command day to day, but there’s no denying that in public appearances, some cracks have begun to show and more are likely to appear. That part of the job, commanding public confidence, matters too.
We’ve supported many of Biden’s toughest calls: on standing up to Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion without engaging America in a hot war; on smartly battling COVID through twists and turns; on trying to build a social policy bill that can get bare-majority support in the Senate. He’s built a strong executive team and nominated an outstanding jurist to the Supreme Court.
He might well be the best choice among Democrats should he choose to seek a second term. But let there be a choice.
