Even President Joe Biden's supporters and allies are discouraged by his unwillingness to fully address questions about his age and fitness as he runs for reelection, Politico reported.
Biden, who'll be 82 soon after voters head to the ballot next year to choose the next president, has done little to confront perhaps the biggest threat to his reelection, Politico reported Wednesday.
"I think you got to be as public as you possibly can in addressing issues, and that's how you can settle it," Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said, Politico reported. "But it's not going to be easy because he is [going to be] 82 years old."
Democrats running for reelection themselves are hearing about voters' concerns about Biden's fitness for the job.
"Only positive things could come from an open and competitive primary in the presidential election," said Rep. Hillary Scholten, a Biden supporter in Western Michigan.
"It is a detriment to all of us if we are ignoring the concerns of the public around the president's image."
Scholten added that Democrats should "get more people out there, what are we afraid of?" "It's problematic that we're ignoring it [Biden's age]. It makes us look out of touch, it makes us look afraid."
Biden has done little to confront the age issue, other then testing a with-age-comes-wisdom riff in front of donors, Politico said.
Instead, the president worries more about approving advertisements and interviewing would-be staffers.
"Biden has conducted little polling on how to reassure voters about his age, complains bitterly about his intra-party critics who raise the issue in public and is unwilling to consider hearing aids, according to Democrats close to him," Politico columnist Jonathan Martin wrote.
"He can't slow the march of time, of course, and nor can he fully defuse the issue. But Biden can do more than to ad-lib a joke about being 110 years old. His own supporters and lawmakers are all but pleading with him to take the matter seriously, because simply saying 'watch me,' as he often retorts when asked about his age, is precisely the problem: people are and it's still the overriding issue troubling them the most about his candidacy."
Outside of Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who's weighing a bid to oppose Biden, nobody appears willing to enter the Democratic Party presidential primary. That means nobody will be forcing the president to defend his fitness for the job.
"I think it's important to confront it," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said, Politico reported.
One pollster who oversaw a focus group of North Carolina swing voters said the first word or phrase the attendees used about Biden was "some combination of 'old, slowing down' or, if they were harsher, 'dementia or feeble.'"
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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