Biden president at 78.

[mikkyr]

I just don’t really understand... 78? He will be 82 at the end of his term. They’ve made such a big deal about Trump being one of very few presidents who failed to secure a 2nd term so will Biden run again at 82? And then we have a 86 year old US president at the end of that term?

Is the consensus that Biden won’t see out this term and hand over to Harris?

I recall my grandparents needing 2 days of recovery after their UK-SA air travel at a younger age and there is no jet lag to factor in.
How is this guy going to cope? And quite honestly why does someone who should be enjoying their retirement have any desire to be president. I get these men live off power but why do voters think this is reasonable.

Well, 70 million of them wanted to keep Trump!

YANBU OP and to point this out isn’t being ageist or pro Trump. It disappoints me that the power behind the curtain prevents only two old white men from running for the top job and at 78 I do question his stamina. He has seemed quite bewildered at points on the campaign trail which is worrying.
The bright point is of course Kamala Harris- who rather than being a career politician has actually had a proper job so if he can last the pace, fine but if not there’s a huge positive coming from his presidency in the shape of her!

*all but only two white men

They were both too old and Biden might just have been the lesser of the two evils for most people. My suspicion is that they knew they wouldn't be able to elect a woman and they've done it by default now. Biden will not last a full term. The worry for me will be the replacement VP if that happens. The voters may really end up with someone they would never have voted for.

I think it’s really sad that an ageing white man is the only one, who could defeat trump. But here we are.... and there is a woc sitting in the wings.

Some of these responses are completely ludicrous and stupid.

There is nothing wrong in questioning the wisdom of putting forward elderly men to lead the size of the US. No, he’s not like your gran who can run a marathon, no he’s is actually running a country.

Hopefully Biden will crush the woken and permit reasoned debate once more.

My DM is 81 and has spent two/three months every year in West Africa doing literacy work for the Christian charity she set up. She has far more energy than me at 51, though that’s because I have long Covid and CFS.

Some people don’t want to slow down, they want to die ‘with their boots on’. Joe Biden seems to be very fit and he’ll have a good team around him, and a good running mate in Kamala Harris.

My great grandmother is 94, sprightly and without even a hint of a deteriorating mind.

People are going to need to reassess their views of what elderly is. Longevity is a real thing now. Life doesn't stop at 65.

He isn’t running the country by himself, though. Even if age is catching up with him (and for the record, I don’t think it is) he isn’t sitting in the White House, exhausted and bewildered, trying to figure out what to do. There are literally thousands of staff supporting all aspects of the executive.

'' Some of these responses are completely ludicrous and stupid "

Thanks for your reasoned debate @badjaws.

For the sake of the world, we are all deeply relived to have Joe Biden as the president elect.

Would it be preferable if he were younger? Yes of course a slightly younger democratic president would be great. Pete Buttigieg seemed a welcome contender in the early days of this election. But you're missing the key ingredient required to run a US presidential election campaign: money.

Thanks to a series of legal challenges over the decades, culminating in the Citizens United ruling not as wholesome as it sounds there are practically no limits on campaign finance in the US the way there are in the U.K. and Canada.

The outcome is that the 2020 election cycle broke all previous spending records at around US$11 billion. That would be comparable to the 2019 GDP of Equatorial Guinea or Chad. The presidential campaign spending was well over a billion.

Not a lot of younger candidates can command that kind of money. And IMO would be terrible presidents if they could.

YANBU, OP. Although nothing could make me happier than seeing the back of Trump, Biden is clearly past his best years. But democracy wants what it wants.

He isn’t running the country by himself, though. Even if age is catching up with him (and for the record, I don’t think it is) he isn’t sitting in the White House, exhausted and bewildered, trying to figure out what to do. There are literally thousands of staff supporting all aspects of the executive.

This is a bad argument. The President isn’t just a figurehead, he needs to lead.

Well, he’s the president with the longest experience in politics ever. Surely that counts for something, especially since he took over from a president with zero experience.
But I believe the consensus is that he won’t run next time and (if everything goes well) Kamala will. Obviously that depends on what happens over the next four years, how popular she is etc.

Maybe we should reframe it as Wisdom.

Or one of the Elders

At least he can read, which is more than Trump could do.

Money is obviously the difference here.
I never thought about that before and it makes perfect sense.

I’m with you OP. I’m 60 and recently retired because I was exhausted and that’s from an ordinary admin job.
Just think of all the teachers/ nurses on here worrying about working to 65/66 and how they will be able to cope with the demands of their job.
Surely as POTUS you are working 14 hour days? I don’t know anyone my age who can do that on a regular basis.

Maybe the electorate should have voted in the younger candidate then?

I really did not want either of the candidates to be president,a DD am amazed that there was no-one better.

Biden I'd the lesser of two evils, I suppose.

But it note that his 'non-apology' to Anita Hill, and other associated issues are receiving more press attention now than they did during the campaign.

Well, given our own queen is 94 and Charles is 71 so probably won’t be far off Biden’s age when he becomes king AKA starts his job I’m not sure we’re in a position to comment really...

AlternativePerspective

The Queen and Charles knight people and open new buildings. Not the same.

Joe Biden’s experience of long haul / air travel will be a lot different to Joe Average. I imagine he’ll reach his destination well slept, well fed, properly hydrated , washed and groomed.

also @Mittens030869 - what you said is true of many people.

My sister-in-law's Dad was still building stonewalls and doing heavy gardening work at 92, as well as being able to complete the Telegraph cryptic crossword in around 15 minutes. No memory problems at all, and was able to continue driving into his late 90s without any problems.

Also for you and hope you recover soon.

I’m with you OP. I’m 60 and recently retired because I was exhausted and that’s from an ordinary admin job.

What? I'm 61 and actively seeking a full-time job after redundancy. I've been doing temp work and the job title for some of the work I've done was labourer, and I enjoyed those jobs more than the admin ones. The average person is hardly exhausted at 60 - it's not even retiring age.

Surely as POTUS you are working 14 hour days?

Probably not - it's a bit like the first episode of Yes Prime Minister where Hacker discovers that there is next to nothing that he actually has to do.

The Queen is still doing all the constitutional stuff of head of state now, and even though she reduced duties in recent years, was still doing a ferocious amount of the charitable and civic stuff until into her late 80s

Haha - I work 12 hour days as a nurse and will be 57 next year - and will have to suck it up for sometime yet.