Some point to the limitations that President Joe Biden’s age presents in meeting the challenges facing the United States. Your current approval rating in the polls also plays a certain role.
The announcement by US President Joe Biden is standing for re-election in 2024 it has left voters divided in his own Democratic Party and sparked much less enthusiasm among party loyalists than other recent presidential nominations seeking a second term.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised, but my first reaction was disappointment,” he said Voice of America Jamie Leff, a musician from Houston, Texas. “He has an extremely low approval rating and is very old. It just doesn’t seem like he’s the right person to run the country.”
Biden, 80, is the oldest US president to run for re-election.
Biden’s candidacy is also being received with opposing opinions, and Trump is intensifying his criticism
“We young voters want to see big changes and progress,” added Leff, 32. “And can he give us that? I’m not sure. But he’s the acting president, which means he’s probably our best option, so we should support him.”
Leff is not alone among Democrats.
According to an April poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, less than half (47%) of Democrats said they want President Biden to run for re-election. Still, a whopping 81 percent of Democrats polled said they would “at least likely” support Biden in the general election against a Republican opponent.
“It appears that Democratic voters, particularly younger voters, are poised to transition to an exciting new generation of politicians,” said Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia.
“But you know who most Democrats would want even less than an old president? Bullock asked, “a Republican president and in particular former President Donald Trump”.
An American Gerontocracy?
“All politics in America feels like a gerontocracy, doesn’t it?” Leff wonders.
According to a recent USA Today-Suffolk University poll, half of Americans said their ideal age for president is between 51 and 65. Another quarter of respondents indicated that they would prefer a candidate who was not older than 50 years.
“I think a lot of us want to vote for people who aren’t afraid to speak up and who aren’t worried about old, outdated rules,” he said VOA Yasmeen Husain, a Democratic voter in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Bullock claimed that “people look to Biden and ask if the Democratic Party is a gerontocracy that supports its oldest politicians, but the GOP’s youngest leader is only four years younger. I think it’s something that affects both sides.”
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Jillian Streger, a Republican voter from Merritt Island, Florida, agrees.
“I really think Biden’s mental health is starting to decline,” he told the VOA. “I don’t mean that in a malicious way, it just seems like he’s having trouble concentrating and completing sentences.”
“But I think Republicans would do a lot better if we picked a newer, stronger candidate than Trump,” Streger said. “It also distracts voters from our side.”
Former President Donald Trump announced last year that he will try to return to the White House.
presidential achievements
Norma Rodrígues is a translator based in Miami, Florida. As a Democrat, he concedes that age will likely play a role in Biden’s re-election bid.
“I had mixed feelings when I heard he was running for re-election,” Rodrigues said Voice of America. “Their age is of concern because it means a higher likelihood of potential health problems, but also because of the age bias that exists among some voters.”
But she hopes that’s not the most important factor.
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“Listen, he’s old and he has a stutter, which isn’t the best combination for impassioned speeches,” said Pennsylvania’s Abby Rae Lacombe, an independent voter with anti-Trump leanings, “but I think he was very good at handling.” a many crises crises high level.
“He got us through COVID-19, advocated ‘proper’ interventionism against Russia without going too far, managed to avoid a recession for longer than most thought possible and managed a major security leak,” Lacombe said. “All of that, and our alternative is a fascist Republican Party, so I think the choice is clear.”
clashes 2024
Republican voters like Alberto Pérez of Blairsville, Georgia, are keen on Biden’s performance.
“I promised myself I would give him a year before he was sentenced,” Pérez told the VOA. “I ignored the mumbling and incoherent sentences and I still feel his tenure was a disaster. His exit from Afghanistan was a mess, his order to vaccinate our foster heroes was tyrannical, and his war on the gas companies fueled record inflation.”
“The only policy I agreed to was the infrastructure law he passed,” Pérez added, “but even there, there was little sign of progress.”
Robert Collins, a professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University in New Orleans, argues that a list of Oval Office accomplishments is unlikely to be the deciding factor in the 2024 presidential election.
“Nowadays there are two tried and tested methods of motivating people to vote,” he said VOA. “There is hope, but no one has called for hope since Obama, and there is also fear. Fear of what will happen if the other man or woman is elected.
Trump, Collins said, is an easy target for voters to fear.
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“That’s why Biden beats Trump in early polls,” he said, “but Biden fights the relatively new [gobernador republicano de Florida] Ron DeSantis. Would the Democrats be better off with anyone other than Biden in a matchup against DeSantis? We don’t know and we won’t know.”
The reasons, Collins said, are twofold. One is that challenging an incumbent president for the nomination is rarely successful, and it often damages the party in general elections. Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican George HW Bush fended off challenges within their respective parties, only to lose their re-election bids months later, Carter in 1980 and Bush in 1992. This story will likely scare off potential Biden challengers.
The other reason, Collins says, is that Democrats don’t seem to have a wide range of viable candidates beyond the current president.
“Vice President Harris was supposed to be the heir to the throne,” he explained, “but it’s become apparent that for some reason she’s very unpopular with voters. Even the Democrats don’t seem to like it very much.”
Husain, from New Orleans, admits she was initially disappointed when she learned Biden was running for re-election. However, the more he thinks about it, the more excited he becomes about his decision.
“I wouldn’t say he’s the lesser of two evils because I think he’s a naturally good man,” he said, “and maybe against these Republicans like Trump, that’s what we need.” It’s our safest option and perhaps the best choice against extremism on the other side.”
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