By Jeremy Steiner / Herald Forum
By now most have read or watched numerous stories about President Biden’s age. Breaking news: He’s old!
His age is a major factor affecting voters’ view of him as too old to run again. Polls show a majority of Americans claiming he’s too “old” for a second term. Even amongst Democrats, two-thirds of respondents say Biden is “too old to effectively serve.”
Although the president’s staff stress he’s 100 percent in the race and able to run again, the nation believes otherwise. And now some polls are proving voter sentiment correct by showing Trump leading Biden.
Many Democrats who support and admire his successful administration and agenda are calling for him not to run again.
One of America’s most respected columnist’s David Ignatious recently wrote a powerful piece: President Biden should not run in 2024. In it, he said of Biden: “he has been a successful and effective president. But I don’t think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for reelection. It’s painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement; which was stopping Trump.”
With all this pressure against the president, he needs a roadmap leading him out of the race and into retirement.
In 2015, after serving two-terms with President Obama, he was the obvious one to run. His intention was to follow in the tradition of many vice presidents throughout American political history.
But that year his son, Beau, died after losing his battle with brain cancer. Instead of announcing the launch of his campaign, at a Rose Garden press conference Vice President Biden made his decision.
“As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said all along … It may very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president, that it might close,” Biden said. “I’ve concluded that it has closed.”
For Biden, the decision was personal and painful. As the president currently struggles with serious issues concerning his other son, Hunter, he should follow his prior choice of placing family before politics and again address the nation.
As the tragic death of one son kept him from running, the troubled life of another son provides him a pathway out of the current campaign. To conclude his term, he should start from the Oval Office and deliver another historic speech by pulling lines from past presidents: LBJ and Reagan.
His speech could read:
“In 2015, I made a personal decision not to run due to a tragic family loss. This year, I’m dealing with another painful period that many American families are forced to face, a member’s long-lasting struggle with drug addiction. This battle has become a distraction drawing national attention away from the work I hoped to achieve. Therefore, as another president once said: ‘I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.’
“What I will do is devote my time and effort to healing my son and work to curb the drug problem plaguing our nation. My other son died of cancer. I will spend equal energy helping to heal others with this horrible disease.
“Over four years ago I said the reason for running is because we’re in a battle to ‘save the soul of our nation.’ With your help, we won that war. We are now safer, more stable and better off than before.
“My life-long dream was to serve as president for the country I love. But achieving this goal wasn’t about me, it was all about the honor to serve the American people. I hope I didn’t let you down. In the last election, more Americans voted for my agenda and message than any other president in history. I am humbled by this support and proud of what we achieved by ending the pandemic, the longest war and a potential recession.
“Some say I’m too old for further public service. I say I’m wise enough to know that the time is right for me to spend my remaining years as a private citizen.
“I recently broke the record as the oldest serving president. This honor was previously held by President Reagan. In his farewell address, he said: ‘We’ve done our part. We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference.’
“And as I’ve said before: ‘When our days are through, our children and our children’s children will say of us: They gave their best, they did their duty, they healed a broken land.’”
If Biden said these words or something like it, he’d leave a lasting legacy of putting patriotism before politics, country before self and his family before profession.
Jeremy Steiner is executive producer for the nationally syndicated Michael Medved radio show and lives in Edmonds.
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