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‘El Hombre,’ the Man, for the 2020 Presidential Election

September 15, 2018

Published in El Observador
(Uruguay) on 5 September 2018
by Eduardo Espina (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Tom Walker. Edited by Arielle Eirienne.

The possibility of Joe Biden’s becoming president seems closer than ever

Not that long ago, when he was still the U.S. vice president, Joe Biden almost came to Uruguay. A health problem at the last moment prevented him from making the trip. Based on his birth certificate, Biden would appear no longer able to participate in activities like this – that is, making frequent ceremonial trips to all parts of the world – because the years have been adding up, and already today the number is significant. There are often exceptions to the limits imposed by age, but not everybody benefits from them. That is the question that millions of undecided voters in the U.S. face these days: Does the veteran politician have enough energy to contemplate what in the past would have been unthinkable, being a candidate in the 2020 presidential election? The time has gone fast. In just a little while, it will be only two years until the next presidential election, when the Democrats hope to recapture the White House and get rid of the nightmare the Trump administration has turned it into for millions of citizens, who consider him the worst president of the modern era.

Biden today is the politician that would have the best chance of winning the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party, which in any case is not replenishing its ranks: Younger Democrats capable of winning massive support across the whole country have not emerged. True, there are younger politicians, but they only have pulling power in their regions or states.

Biden got on a commercial airplane the other day and ran into a bunch of passengers that asked him to please run in the next presidential election. “You’ve got to do it,” for the country, one passenger told him. “We’re with you,” another said. After his son’s death from a brain tumor, Biden said during the last election season that he didn’t have the mental or physical strength to launch a grueling election campaign.

This time, as never before in his long political career, the picture looks more favorable than ever. As happened earlier with Ronald Reagan, young people trust in the wisdom of a candidate with experience. If he runs and wins, he will be 77 when he becomes president. No one among the voters thinks that could be a major obstacle.

El hombre, “the man”, para las presidenciales de 2020

No hace mucho tiempo atras, cuando todavia era vicepresidente de EEUU, Joe Biden casi viene a Uruguay. Un problema de salud a ultimo momento le impidio hacerlo. Segun dice su certificado de nacimiento, Biden pareciera no estar ya para esos trotes, esto es, para hacer frecuentes viajes protocolares a todas partes del mundo, pues los anos se han ido acumulando y ya suman hoy una cifra considerable. La edad suele hacer excepciones, pero no todos salen beneficiados. Esa es la duda que millones de estadounidenses que forman el grupo de los indecisos tienen en estos dias; 6cuenta el veterano politico con la energia suficiente como para pensar en lo que tiempo atras parecia impensable, es decir, en convertirse en candidato para las elecciones presidenciales de 2020? El tiempo se ha ido rapidfsimo. En poco tiempo mas solo faltaran dos ahos para las proximas elecciones presidenciales en las que los democratas esperan recuperar la Casa Blanca y deshacerse de la pesadilla en que se ha convertido el gobierno de Donald Trump para millones de ciudadanos, quienes lo consideran el peor mandatario estadounidense de la epoca moderna.

Biden es, al dia de hoy, el politico que mayores posibilidades tendria de conseguir la nomination a la presidencia por el partido dembcrata, partido que, por cierto, no presenta un recambio en sus filas: no han surgido figuras jovenes capaces de conseguir apoyo masivo en todo el pais. Hay politicos jovenes, sf, pero solo tienen arrastre popular en su region o estado.

Biden subio el otro dfa a un avion de li'nea comercial y se encontro con que una cantidad de pasajeros le pidieron que por favor se postulara para las proximas presidenciales. "Tienes que hacerlo por el pais", le pidio un pasajero, "estamos todos contigo", le dijo otro. Tras la muerte de su hijo de un tumor cerebral, Biden dijo en la pasada election que no tenia la fuerza mental ni fisica como para iniciar una agotadora campana electoral.

Esta vez, como nunca antes en su larga carrera politica, el panorama luce mbs favorable que nunca. Como ya pasb antes con Ronald Reagan, la gente joven confia en la sabiduria de un candidato con experiencia. Si se presentara y ganara, llegaria a la presidencia con 77 ahos de edad. Nadie entre los votantes democratas cree que eso pueda ser un impedimento mayor.

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