{"id":608453,"date":"2024-02-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/senate-dems-privately-fear-bidens-age-could-cost-him-white-house\/"},"modified":"2024-02-13T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T10:00:00","slug":"senate-dems-privately-fear-bidens-age-could-cost-him-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/senate-dems-privately-fear-bidens-age-could-cost-him-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"#Senate Dems privately fear Biden\u2019s age could cost him White House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/AP24043801853679-e1707777855950.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Democratic senators are admitting to private worries that President Biden\u2019s age and health could cost their party the White House,\u00a0but are loath to discuss those fears publicly, insisting there is no alternative to head the Democratic ticket in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic senators who have spent time with Biden recently say he remains sharp mentally and claim they didn\u2019t notice any diminution of cognitive abilities, contradicting special counsel\u00a0Robert Hur\u2019s claims that\u00a0the president\u00a0couldn\u2019t remember what years he served as vice president.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Biden\u2019s age is such a taboo subject among Democratic senators that it doesn\u2019t come up at their caucus meetings led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), even though\u00a0some admit privately that it\u2019s one of their biggest concerns heading into the election because polls show so many voters doubt Biden\u2019s ability to do the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn all of our lunches, it\u2019s never been discussed. It\u2019s kind of amazing,\u201d said one Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to discuss how\u00a0peers\u00a0are handling the 81-year-old president\u2019s biggest political liability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one has said, \u2018We should talk about this.\u2019 Or, \u2018Isn\u2019t this an issue? Should we have him come over and talk?\u2019 I\u2019ve never heard anybody say, \u2018Schumer should go over there and talk to him about it,\u2019\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n<p>While Democratic senators shrug off the issue publicly, they admit privately that it\u2019s a serious problem. But they still think he can beat former President Trump in 2024, which is why they\u2019re keeping silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I don\u2019t think that means that people aren\u2019t worried about it. Look, I worry about it,\u201d said the Democratic lawmaker of fellow senators. \u201cI\u2019m less worried about his ability, I\u2019m assuming he\u2019s going to do\u201d the job, \u201cbut I\u2019m worried about a lot of people in the country\u201d\u00a0who\u00a0think Biden\u2019s not up to the task.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said \u201cBiden can win\u201d but urged him not to ignore voters\u2019 concerns about his age. He\u2019s not as confident as some of his Democratic colleagues that voters across the board will dismiss Trump as simply unfit for office.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cBiden, he\u2019s got to deal with the age issue. He\u2019s got to show some energy, and he\u2019s got to show what the future is, not just beat up on Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump is going to be Trump,\u00a0and people are going to come to their own reactions. They don\u2019t need the Biden campaign to be telling them how bad Trump is. Trump will take care of that himself,\u201d he predicted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a real manifestation of energy and future orientation from the Biden campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>If anything, Hur\u2019s report has intensified concerns about Biden\u2019s age. Many Democrats think the special counsel took cheap shots at Biden by describing him as an elderly man with memory issues, but they are also worrying it is cementing already existing public concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Biden\u2019s age a \u201clegitimate issue\u201d but advised him to \u201clean into the fact that he\u2019s experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>David Axelrod, who served as a top strategist to former President\u00a0Obama, in the fall floated the idea that Biden should consider not running for reelection because of voters\u2019 concerns about his age.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Axelrod more recently told The New York Times that the special counsel\u2019s report, which repeatedly referenced Biden\u2019s memory, \u201cgoes to the core of what is plaguing Biden politically now, which is a widespread fear that he\u2019s not up to it.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democratic senators quietly acknowledge that the age issue is a big problem, especially among young voters whom they see as crucial to Biden winning reelection, and\u00a0it\u00a0threatens to overshadow his accomplishments, which are getting much less <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> attention.<\/p>\n<p>But they say it\u2019s too late to do anything to find a new nominee, given the primaries have already started, and Super Tuesday is only a few weeks away.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> sense of folks is that we\u2019ve hitched our wagon to Biden, that he\u2019s delivered a lot in partnership. It may not be Biden himself, but it\u2019s his team. Right? And we\u2019re already into the primaries,\u201d said a second Democratic senator who requested anonymity to speak candidly.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmaker said that the political calculus would change only if Biden suffered a glaring cognitive or health setback in public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there was something super obvious like there was with Mitch McConnell,\u201d the situation would change, the senator said, referring to the Senate Republican leader freezing before television cameras last year.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Senators say Vice President Harris could replace Biden on the ticket if he dropped out of the race in the summer or fall, but they don\u2019t see that as a promising option,\u00a0given her low <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roval ratings and the relatively low-profile role she\u2019s played over the past three years.<\/p>\n<p>Harris\u2019s approval rating dipped to 38 percent in mid-December, according to an average of polls compiled by\u00a0FiveThirtyEight.com.<\/p>\n<p>Some Senate Democrats saw Biden\u2019s decision to pause applications to export liquified natural gas and an executive order to sanction four Israeli settlers in the West Bank who attacked Palestinians as a smart move to improve his standing with young voters.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cYounger voters are a little dispirited by Biden right now, polls show. And they take climate change as an existential issue, and they\u2019re appalled by the loss of life among innocent Palestinians,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything that Biden can do to renew his commitment to reducing carbon emissions and anything he can to do to end the war in Gaza and stand up for the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians is helpful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Biden beat Trump by 24 points among voters aged 18 to 29 in the 2020 election,\u00a0but recent polls show Trump with a slight lead over Biden in the key demographic. Younger voters are citing the president\u2019s handling of the war in Israel and climate change as two problem areas.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic lawmakers who have spent time with Biden recently insist he doesn\u2019t resemble the man described in the special counsel\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is reality is I was out with the president at a restaurant meeting with Black pastors, at the [United Auto Workers union]. [His] energy level was high. He was in his element. I see a very different picture,\u201d said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who spent time with Biden during his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> to Michigan to meet with autoworkers.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/4463836-senate-democrats-biden-age\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic senators are admitting to private worries that President Biden\u2019s age and health could cost their party the White House,\u00a0but are loath to discuss those fears publicly, insisting there is no alternative to head the Democratic ticket in 2024. Democratic senators who have spent time with Biden recently say he remains sharp mentally and claim&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":608454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/AP24043801853679-e1707777855950.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134343,71313,113510,138053,4941,72944,133498,124783,991,40445,142673,70289,134345],"class_list":["post-608453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-campaign","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-david-axelrod","tag-debbie-stabenow","tag-donald-trump","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-in-the-know","tag-international","tag-joe-biden","tag-media","tag-peter-welch","tag-senate","tag-state-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}