(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . On Biden's passing the torch. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-07 Like everyone here, I assume, I think it’s necessary for the executive branch of the US government to remain in Democratic control. The Republicans are anti-democratic extremists. They have already eaten away at the pillars of democracy like so much fascist salt over the years. This nation was fortunate that enough of the electorate rose up and made Trump a one-termer. And Joe Biden’s administration has done a marvelous job of righting the ship. Michelle Goldberg explains: www.nytimes.com/… He’s presided over record job creation and the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years. Whereas Donald Trump’s infrastructure weeks were a running joke, Biden signed the largest infusion of federal funds into infrastructure in more than a decade. His Inflation Reduction Act made a historic investment in clean energy; the head of the International Energy Agency called it the most important climate action since the 2015 Paris climate accord. (And incidentally, inflation is finally coming down.) Biden rallied Western nations to support Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist invasion and ended America’s long, fruitless war in Afghanistan, albeit with an ugly and ignominious exit. His administration capped insulin prices for seniors, codified federal recognition of gay marriage and shot down that spy balloon everyone was freaking out about. He’s on track to appoint more federal judges than Trump. All that and more. But, Goldberg says: In other words, Biden has been a great president. He’s made good on an uncommon number of campaign promises. He should be celebrated on Tuesday. But he should not run again. Goldberg points out that in 2020, much of campaigning was done virtually, but in 2024, we’re likely back to the sort of travel-heavy campaigning that is hard on much younger candidates, much less someone in his 80s who is already working his ass off to run the country—well. And she says that if Biden’s opponent is Trump, who’ll be 78 himself, that won’t matter much. But if the Republicans run anyone younger, more vigorous, “For Democrats, the visual contrast alone could be devastating.” It’s hard to argue with that. Of course, the policy and ideological differences between the two parties should matter more than anything else. But for far too may of the electorate, they don’t. People who aren’t up to speed on policy nuts-and-bolts (and consequences) are heavily influenced by appearance. George H. W. Bush looks at his watch during a debate in 1992 and alienates voters. George W. Bush grins like a jackass and people would rather have a beer with him than with Al Gore. Stupid shit matters more than policy and ideology to a whole lot of voters. We know this. And a whole of voters know what octogenarian life looks like. They have watched our elders navigate it. “Mom did really well until about 82.” “Uncle Bob was fine until 86.” But even “really well” and “fine” mean diminished to some degree—just not debilitatedly so. Some of us are approaching that time ourselves and our preparations do not include trying to run a country, not even a little one. Is it wise for us to expect an electorate to ignore their own experiences with their elders so that they can trust that Biden is in the rare club of octogenarians who function like 60 year olds? That’s going to work? Which is the greater gamble? Biden running for re-election or Biden not running? Is our bench really so weak that no other human in the Democratic party can step up and inspire Americans to vote for them? If so, then the Democratic party needs to do better at mentoring and developing younger politicians, and we can only hope that Biden can convince enough voters that he truly is exceptional. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/7/2151553/-On-Biden-s-passing-the-torch Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/