If Biden has become forgetful, he can do better than Trump as president because he has enormous political experience. It is by no means a given that younger people are better leaders than older people who are still passionate about the task.
Today, Joe Biden will deliver his “State of the Union” speech. Some fear he will slur, whine or otherwise reveal that he is very old. It will be fine. He has a script and has been told by his advisers to stick strictly to it.
Biden is unlikely to impress. He is stiff and slow, not very vital and characterized by being old. The goal is not to make mistakes.
If Biden becomes president, it will not be because the voters believe that he is the best the United States can field. He will possibly win because he is the lesser of two evils.
Far into the Republican camp, there are those who believe that Donald Trump has disqualified himself from becoming president. They see him as a threat to democracy. How many Republicans will quietly choose Biden over Trump is hard to say.
Biden or Trump
Although it is now clear that the election will be between Biden and Trump, it is too early to speculate on who has the best chances. There is great uncertainty associated with both of them. Trump may be sentenced with a requirement to appear before imprisonment. Then he will lose the support of some Republicans.
For Biden, it is about his state of health. Dag og Tid has spoken to professor of neurology, Per Alf Brodal, about the consequences of ageing. He describes it as risky that Biden is standing for election. But it can go well.
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President Joe Biden has a failing memory. It does not mean that he is becoming demented or that his cognitive abilities are significantly reduced. Short-term memory loss is one of the most common signs of aging. Most people can notice it long before they turn 80.
Young, fresh minds learn faster. Experience can in many cases trump pure learning ability, Brodal points out. Few can point to as wide an experience as Biden. He knows politics at the tips of his fingers. He knows the threats and opportunities for political influence. He has experience from operating both in the vagaries of foreign and domestic politics.
Biden must stick to the script
Biden can make decisions and ensure political impact. What Biden has to watch out for is that he sticks to the script. He must not succumb to the temptation of political improvisation. What he has to say must be mulled over internally. The press conference is dangerous for Biden because he can then start buzzing with details. He has control over the big lines.
Yesterday, Trump challenged Biden to a televised debate. This is a risky sport for Biden and a dream position for Trump, who can serve up flat-out lies with as much naturalness as a truth.
If Biden does well with today’s speech, it could quell claims that he is too old to be president. But it doesn’t take long before he gives fuel to these claims.
Biden has a solid group around him. The most striking thing is that he has not promoted Vice President Kamala Harris to a greater extent. She has become too anonymous. It must be a priority task for an aging president to lift up the person he has chosen as his right-hand man and who must be ready to step in as president.
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If Biden is to win the election in the autumn, he must as soon as it is natural choose his vice president. The two must appear as a coordinated and effective team.
Who Trump appoints as vice president matters little. Trump drives ego, he neither can nor will share attention with anyone.
Trump mer vital
Trump appears more vital and on the cutting edge than Biden. He doesn’t talk back. However, erraticity is a trademark of his. No one knows what Trump might say.
Although Trump is four years younger than Biden and appears less old, that does not mean that Biden’s cognitive abilities are more impaired than Trump’s. Furthermore, when one is around 80 years old, cognitive changes can happen quickly when they first set in.
When everything indicates that the election will be between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the debate should be about which policies they stand for, not which of them is too old to be president. They’re both too old, but it might work out.