Joe Biden: Not even the majority of Democrats want him to run again

Presidential Election 2024
Not even a majority of Democrats want Joe Biden to run again

US President Joe Biden wanted to sit down with his family at the turn of the year and consider whether he should run again in the elections next year. Now the new year is more than five weeks old, and the 80-year-old has still not officially commented on the vote of the family council – declarations of intent yes, official declaration of inauguration none.

But Biden’s reluctance may be a good thing, because the Democrat can now include a new survey by the Norc Center for Public Affairs Research of the Associated Press (AP) news agency in his considerations. According to this, only 37 percent of the supporters of his party want the president another four years in the White House. Shortly after the midterm elections last November, which were surprisingly successful for the Democrats, the figure was still 52 percent. According to the AP, if you take all eligible voters, only 22 percent want him to run again, compared to 29 percent before the midterm elections.

Biden has lost significant support, especially among Americans under the age of 45. The 45 percent who thought he should run again before the midterm elections has now dropped to 23 percent.

Joe Biden is too old for many eligible voters

But while the majority of respondents do not want Biden to get involved in the campaign again, 41 percent are satisfied with the way he is carrying out his duties, which is about the same as at the end of last year. A majority of Democrats also still agree with the President’s work.

Polling of survey participants indicated that many find the 80-year-old’s age a burden, the AP reports. People focused on his cough, gait, slip-ups, and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job might be better suited to someone younger. “I honestly think he’s too old,” the news agency quoted Sarah Overman, a 37-year-old Democrat who works in education in Raleigh, North Carolina. “We could use someone younger in office.”

Ross Truckey from Michigan agrees. “His age and possibly his intellectual acuity are not what I would want for the leader of the country,” said the 35-year-old lawyer, who did not vote for Biden or his Republican opponent Donald Trump in 2020. “He seems like an old man at times who’s past his prime. Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the guy who pushes himself in front of the crowds.”

Biden, who is already the oldest president in US history, is repeatedly confronted with questions about his age. Should he run again and be elected, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.

Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who wanted to become the Democratic presidential candidate himself in 2020, admitted on the US broadcaster CNN that “generational arguments can be powerful”. The strongest argument, however, is results, emphasized the 41-year-old. “And you can’t argue — at least I’d say you can’t seriously say it’s not a good thing that we created 12 million jobs under this President.”

Sources: Associated Press, “The Hills”

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