Trump vs. Biden: Sure, age brings wisdom, but it also brings cognitive decline | Opinion
So far, President Biden has two strong Republicans opposing him for the presidency: Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and, of course, Donald Trump. (Ambassador Nikki Haley is as well, but her polling numbers are quite low.)
After how the last three years have gone, it was disappointing to see Biden announce another run. Incredibly, the same thing can be said of Trump.
Trump is not fit to represent the GOP: After representing conservatism well while in office, Trump’s entire charade fell apart afterward. He’s spent the last three years peddling election-fraud lies, whining about his opponents, creating chaos and controversy by suggesting Jan. 6 rioters were “patriots” and generally looking like an awful representative of the future of the Republican Party. The GOP can surely find someone better to throw its weight behind.
Biden hasn’t done much better for the Democratic Party. During the past three years, inflation skyrocketed to 9%, interest rates tripled and gas prices soared. While he may not necessarily be responsible for all of them, they’ve occurred under his watch and, with issues like gas prices, Biden’s done little to curb the problem.
On top of these disasters, Biden avoids the press, struggles to string sentences together in a coherent way and even his own voters seem to dislike him: His approval rating has hit an all-time low — nearly 60% disapprove of the job he’s doing. Some conservatives think Biden’s one of the worst presidents of all time. Surely Democrats themselves can see this.
Biden is 80 years old; at 76, Trump is close behind: While wisdom undoubtedly comes with age, there’s also such a thing as cognitive decline — and both men show it.
We’re an incredible nation of more than 300 million people; 45 million of those are over 35, the age one can run for president. It’s sad, frustrating and downright depressing that in a nation with this many competent, qualified adults, the only two people representing the two main political parties in America are senile men with awful political track records.
It says something about politics that our political parties are attracting outlandish rich men or career politicians, then showcasing them to the world as competent choices. It’s time we dig deep into our political parties, understand why qualified, younger people aren’t running for office for the Democratic Party and why the GOP remains obsessed with backing Trump.
Every election is important for the fabric of this republic to remain intact and thriving — 2024 no more or no less than the ones before it. Let’s respect our country and each other enough to do better.
Nicole Russell is an opinion writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 12:35 PM.