Many of the hot-button issues Republicans were hoping to use against President Joe Biden have crumbled away. Inflation is down to 3 percent. Crime rates are plunging. Even the border situation has improved dramatically; entries have dropped 70 percent since the rescission of the emergency order allowing summary migrant expulsions. And abortion, historically a strong culture war motivator for Republicans, has now been turned on them as the end of Roe v. Wade has pushed suburban voters to the polls.
That leaves Republicans with just one thing to talk about: Biden's age. But that isn't a solid plan for beating him, wrote reporter Molly Jong-Fast for Vanity Fair.
"It seems that Republicans are obsessed with Biden’s age because that’s pretty much all they have to run on in 2024," wrote Jong-Fast. "Sure, Republicans will still exaggerate the potential crisis that crime and inflation and unchecked immigration could pose, and stoke fears about 'wokeness' run amok. But it’ll be harder to sell such talking points to journalists — and importantly — voters. Whereas Biden is actually old. A May 2023 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed that 'almost 4 in 10 Democrats said his mental fitness was a real concern as did 7 in 10 independents and, as expected, more than 8 in 10 Republicans.'"
The problem, said Jong-Fast, is that hanging an entire campaign off of this issue is likely to fall flat.
For one thing, she pointed out, this only even draws a contrast if a candidate like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, age 44, or businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, age 37, is the nominee. Polling overwhelmingly says the favorite is still former President Donald Trump — and he is just 3 years younger than Biden, at 77.
Moreover, added Jong-Fast, "It’s hard to imagine how, three years later, Biden will seem less healthy than Trump. After all, Biden is athletic. He starts every morning on the Peloton and lifting weights; he goes to bed early. Biden is photographed exercising, and Trump is known for his love of fast food." And in any case, voters over 65 consistently have the highest turnout rates, so it's unclear an age-based attack will even land well in the first place.
"It’s hard for Republicans to pick on Biden when their own guy seems winded driving a golf cart, but hypocrisy has never stopped Republicans before," Jong-Fast concluded.
