It’s an interesting debate. My own personal experience tends to make me lean a bit to Thry’s side that there is a “best before.” date in all of us.
I retired at 60. I found the last five years probably the hardest. I still enjoyed what I did but the energy just wasn’t there, and I found things a lot more challenging. Strangely that was a period where others looked to me for advice and direction. I regard my best years as between the ages 30 and 50.
The young have the energy and enthusiasm, the old have the age and experience, and it’s no doubt somewhere in the middle where they hit their peak. The young tend to live in the moment. Their focus is what is happening at any given time. At the end of my career, I could look at the day ahead and knew exactly what parts of that day would present challenges and how I would deal with those. The thing is that 10 years after retiring I know I couldn’t do that same job.
Looking at the list of elder statesfolk DJC posted, the questions would have to be -
Were they in their prime when held those positions?
Were they still the best person for that job?
Would a 50-year-old Biden be a better President than the 80+ version.
The answer to the first question would undoubtedly be ‘no’
The answer to the second is ‘debatable’.
The answer to the third would be odds-on.
Aging is something we can’t beat. Biden is not as sharp as he was 4 years ago. In four year’s time he will be less sharp…and Harris would probably be President.
Is Biden of better character than Trump? Undoubtedly! His interests seem to be of what’s best for his country and the world whereas Trump is always about what’s best for Trump. In a bit of a contradiction, by hanging on Biden is probably committing a bit of a selfish act. He’s also a politician of many years experience and you don’t last that long in politics without a bit of mongrel and ruthlessness…and while no Trump, there would be a few skeletons in his closet.
So where are we at now.
At the Press Conference he made a few gaffs. The Trump for Harris was a big blooper, much the same as calling Zelensky- Putin earlier in the day. But his performance at the presser, while not great, and very hesitant at times, was better than his debate performance and not the clear sign of the lost cause some Democrats calling for him to step down would have been able to seize upon to justify their positions. He was able to demonstrate he was still across a number of important issues.
Just as an aside…notice when Biden loses his train of thought he says ‘Anyway’ and changes the subject.
All that leaves the party in a bit of limbo.
Time is running out. If a change is to be made it has to be made shortly. If Biden does run he is staring at defeat. He would also go to an election with a party divided. A party where many of his colleagues think he shouldn’t be running. That gives the other side a ton of ammunition. A divided party is a recipe for defeat.
I retired at 60. I found the last five years probably the hardest. I still enjoyed what I did but the energy just wasn’t there, and I found things a lot more challenging. Strangely that was a period where others looked to me for advice and direction. I regard my best years as between the ages 30 and 50.
The young have the energy and enthusiasm, the old have the age and experience, and it’s no doubt somewhere in the middle where they hit their peak. The young tend to live in the moment. Their focus is what is happening at any given time. At the end of my career, I could look at the day ahead and knew exactly what parts of that day would present challenges and how I would deal with those. The thing is that 10 years after retiring I know I couldn’t do that same job.
Looking at the list of elder statesfolk DJC posted, the questions would have to be -
Were they in their prime when held those positions?
Were they still the best person for that job?
Would a 50-year-old Biden be a better President than the 80+ version.
The answer to the first question would undoubtedly be ‘no’
The answer to the second is ‘debatable’.
The answer to the third would be odds-on.
Aging is something we can’t beat. Biden is not as sharp as he was 4 years ago. In four year’s time he will be less sharp…and Harris would probably be President.
Is Biden of better character than Trump? Undoubtedly! His interests seem to be of what’s best for his country and the world whereas Trump is always about what’s best for Trump. In a bit of a contradiction, by hanging on Biden is probably committing a bit of a selfish act. He’s also a politician of many years experience and you don’t last that long in politics without a bit of mongrel and ruthlessness…and while no Trump, there would be a few skeletons in his closet.
So where are we at now.
At the Press Conference he made a few gaffs. The Trump for Harris was a big blooper, much the same as calling Zelensky- Putin earlier in the day. But his performance at the presser, while not great, and very hesitant at times, was better than his debate performance and not the clear sign of the lost cause some Democrats calling for him to step down would have been able to seize upon to justify their positions. He was able to demonstrate he was still across a number of important issues.
Just as an aside…notice when Biden loses his train of thought he says ‘Anyway’ and changes the subject.
All that leaves the party in a bit of limbo.
Time is running out. If a change is to be made it has to be made shortly. If Biden does run he is staring at defeat. He would also go to an election with a party divided. A party where many of his colleagues think he shouldn’t be running. That gives the other side a ton of ammunition. A divided party is a recipe for defeat.