Biden Turns the United States into a Gerontocracy

If Joe Biden wins the 2024 election, he will be 86 when he leaves the White House. This feat will not make him the oldest president in the history of the United States, for he already holds that title. Instead, his achievement will be that, from now on, the term “gerontocracy”— which is generally used in reference to the Soviet Union in the 1980s — will become associated with the United States of the past decade.

Yesterday, in a three-minute video, Biden announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. Only 38% of Democratic voters approve of his intention to run, while 57% believe that it should be a different candidate and 5% remain undecided. In contrast, Barack Obama had the support of 75% of his party to run for a second term, while 73% supported Donald Trump and 50% supported Bill Clinton.

“Democrats reluctant about Biden 2024, but they see no other choice,” was yesterday’s headline in The Washington Post, which is close to the Democratic Party. “They are lukewarm about picking Biden as their nominee, but many believe he may be the best hope of preventing a second Trump term and fighting extremism.”

The Democratic base has repeatedly shown itself to favor candidates who are younger, more progressive and more representative of “diversity” in the Democratic Party. However, the polls seem to confirm that Biden is the best possible option for Democrats against Trump’s hypothetical presidential bid.

This would nevertheless not be the best option against a candidacy on the part of Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and Trump’s potential future opponent for the Republican candidacy. The irony of it is that DeSantis is more likely to win against Biden in a presidential election than against Trump in the battle for the Republican nomination.

However, the relevant question today is whether Biden has the necessary strength to lead the greatest world power in a moment of extreme geopolitical tensions, with Russia threatening nuclear war if there is obstruction to its plans in Ukraine and China advancing in an increasingly aggressive manner in its intention to become a new superpower, replacing the United States. Will Biden be able to lead the free world in a hypothetical world war against the Chinese, Russian and Iranian autocracies?

Deep down, Biden is a metaphor for the aging Western world with a declining birth rate and more concerned about conquering “new rights” than about growth, as demonstrated by the fact that “more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer” was the slogan the president chose for the video announcing his candidacy.

That is not exactly the most serious issue for American citizens, who enjoy the greatest level of rights and liberties than any other society throughout history — because the battle of the future is not that of “new rights,” many of which are slight tweaks of rights gained decades ago, but the survival of the structure that enables the existence of those rights. In other words, the survival of democracy itself.