(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Dueling 'Cognitive Decline' Narratives, and the plain truth of the June 27 CNN Debate [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-06 I’m an 80s teenager, now in my mid 50s. It seems crazy to me sometimes, and I can only imagine how it seems to a much younger voter: America’s current Presidential Election is between an 81 year old man and a 78 year old man (Trump turns 78 next Friday). I thought Ronald Reagan was downright geriatric when he was (re-)nominated back in 1984, when I was 16. Reagan broke the record then for oldest nominee of a major party. Reagan was 73. The “Trump side” of America’s political/media divide is saying President Biden is going senile (warning: link goes to the tabloidy and right-wing New York Post, but it conveys the flavor of the claims). The “Biden side” is saying Ex-president Trump is going senile (March 2024 piece from Newsweek). I have a related story to tell from back in 2004. I was chairing our Unitarian congregation’s annual fundraising drive (often called a “canvass” in New England congregations). We needed someone beloved-by-all to get up in the pulpit and exhort the people to pledge generously for the coming year. There was such a person, I’ll call him Chandler for this. I think Chandler was around age 82 then, and some were saying he was starting to show signs of cognitive decline, but he was most highly esteemed and was a brilliant orator, known over the decades for his rhetorical gifts and theatrical flourishes. Chandler had lost his wife the year prior, and I thought this might feel good for him, to get back up there and regale us with a wonderful speech like he always did. And he had a friendly smile and a twinkle in his eye when I greeted him; he seemed together enough to me, I thought. So I asked dear old Chandler to get up there on an April Sunday morning and make the pitch. My mistake. It was heartbreaking to witness. Long story short, we all quickly understood that this dear man’s cognitive decline was far worse than we had realized. Chandler went into assisted care just a couple of months later, and passed a few years after that. The June 27 debate on CNN — if it happens, and I know many in here are skeptical Trump will actually do it — if it happens 3 short weeks from today, it will lay bare the situation in a similar way. If Donald Trump is in major cognitive decline, we will know it. If Joe Biden is in major cognitive decline, we will know it. Per debate conditions, there will be no live studio audience to cheer or clap. Just the two candidates, taking and answering questions from Moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, and rebutting their opponent’s statements. I’m curious to ask.. do you think this debate is going to happen? And if/when it does, what do you think we will see? Donald Trump is turning 78 and he’s under a mountain of legal stress. It threatens him in ways he has never been threatened before. His 2020 rallies and debate performances were often erratic and messy to say the least; there are clues that his mental state is now even worse. That said — we (in here) have a lot of interest in wanting it to be true. Is Donald Trump sliding into full-on dementia? This is either true or it isn’t. And it is impossible to hide. I have a feeling it’s at least somewhat true, and that we’ll all see it on June 27. But is it also true that Joe Biden at 81 hasn’t lost a step mentally since 2020 when he was 77? We want it to be true. And I know he delivered his SOTU speech with verve and vigor. But a prepared speech is different from a moderated debate. It is more than a little bizarre that we require this gauntlet. To ascend to the Presidency, you must demonstrate that you are a good debater on TV. Why, exactly? This is somewhat like requiring a neurosurgeon to demonstrate that they can make an interesting and informative PowerPoint slide deck about how cool their surgical techniques are, before they are allowed to do the job of being a surgeon. But it’s become a firmly set tradition, and we’ve decided it is essential, and the first candidate to resist it gets called a coward, so: on with the show. I wonder what you honestly think about Donald Trump’s cognitive state, and about Joe Biden’s, and what we might see during the CNN debate. Thanks for reading. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/6/2245181/-Dueling-Cognitive-Decline-Narratives-and-the-plain-truth-of-the-June-27-CNN-Debate?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web 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/