Me and Joe Biden

 

I would never presume to compare myself to President Biden, but we do have one thing in common: we are old. I am distressed though by the current controversy over whether or not he is too old to run for office in 2024. Everyone seems to be trying to make up his mind for him. Signs are that he very much wants to, but even some in his own party question the wisdom of trying for a second term. And of course Republicans are all over the “sleepy Joe image.” I even read somewhere that Dr. Jill Biden is pressuring him not to run, going so far as to threaten to leave him if he announces. I suspect that’s someone’s fabrication—whether a MAGA person or a Russian bot—because it is so out of character with what we see of her almost daily on TV. The ostensible reason is that she does not want to see him humiliated by a defeat. To my mind, Joe Biden right now is a victim of America’s preoccupation with ageism.

The president has just had a physical and been pronounced fit and healthy, a “vigorous eighty-year-old man.” In two years, much of it in the face of a Senate controlled by the opposition, he has set a course for America which differs dramatically from that of his predecessor, and he’s making progress in bringing his vision to reality. Whether you ike his vision for the country or not, he’s clearly a man who’s hit his stride. So why quit now because of something that might happen? Sure, he might develop a life-threatening illness or dementia, but elect a fifty-year-old president and they could develop a disease, be the victim of an assassination. Nobody know what’s around the corner, but age is relative. I don’t think we should look at the number of years, but at the individual—how they act and speak and think. Vigorous isn’t just an empty word.

Let’s banish two images: the first is that of “sleepy Joe,” one of trump’s famous derogatory nicknames. Joe Biden is not sleepy, but his style is understated, calm, and slow, in contrast to the loud, dramatic rants of trump. While some criticize him, Biden goes quietly about doing what he thinks is right, getting the job done. The other is that he misspeaks—every time Biden stumbles over a word, Republicans are fast on it. The man continues to battle a lifelong stuttering problem, and his speaking ability is to be admired, not derided. He fights to get each word out. Did you hear him stutter during his State of the Union? I didn’t.

I am particularly interested in what seems to be the Biden age dilemma, because I am two years older than he is. When people express amazement that I’m still writing—with an emphasis on still—I want to say, “What else would I be doing? Watching TV all day?” I’m in good health, knock on wood, and my mind is clear (don’t ask my kids!). I like what I do, the life I’m living. Should I look ahead at the calendar and say, “Wow! Next year I’ll be 85. I guess I better quit writing?” I don’t think so.

Why we write came up as a discussion topic in a small online writing group I belong to, and the best reason I heard was, “Because sometimes the words fly onto the page.” But there is more—I don’t know any other way to live. Watching TV was a joke, but I seriously don’t know what I would do if I didn’t write and didn’t have my involvement with the writing community. And there are things I still want to write—that memoir I talk about, another Irene book (having just finished one that will be out in the spring, I already have the opening scene for the next one), the Helen Corbitt project I keep procrastinating about. I’ve always thought it would be fun to write a short book titled, Dogs I Have Loved.

So I get Joe Biden’s dilemma, or at least I think I do. I tried to keep this post non-partisan but, clearly, I think Biden is doing a good job at moving us back from the brink of authoritarianism, back to what America is supposed to be—but not back into the times of racial and gender discrimination, banned books and illegal abortions. I’ll vote for him again, given the chance—the alternatives so far are pretty awful.

Now about that book about dogs …..