Biden's age

[Falcrack]

So a lot of people make a big deal about Biden's age, and by extension, mental fitness for office. Because apparently misspeaking the name of an individual means you have Alzheimer's.

If I were to advise Biden on this, I think he should address the issue directly by first, getting a full exam from at least 3 qualified physicians who specialize in diagnosis of Alzheimer's. If he were to be found to be in early stages, he should step aside. He could also announce that if he were to receive an official diagnosis, he would pledge to resign so the VP could become president.

The best way to handle this would be to publicly acknowledge the concerns the public has about this issue and have the humility to step aside if there is an official diagnosis.

[Observe]

Even without a diagnosed medical condition such as dementia or Alzheimer's, most people experience some loss of cognitive ability as they age. Putting aside pathological decline, the question is, how much mental acuity has Biden lost due to normal aging?

One thing is clear, Biden is not as sharp as he used to be. This is normal. Since there is no universal standard, I'm not sure that there is any way to measure whether Biden has greater or lesser cognitive ability than his challengers. Also, different people are affected in different ways (memory, attention, reasoning etc.).

Obviously, we would all like to have someone clear-headed and in their prime, but apparently, that is too much to ask for.

[mr.WHO]

Dude is ancient, a living fossil, but most of us will be lucky to be half as sharp as him when we will hit such age.

Most of situation that get into media are clipped videos or situations out of contexts - I said most, not all, but well, even much younger people have situations where thery are really tired and start to babble.

Personally I was willing to believe his mental decline before the election, but then I watched debate and there was no sign of it.
The situation continues - there are infomation about his mental decline poping out, but when you watch his longer, unineterupted, non-clipped speech, he seems OK (for a living fossil - you shouldn't expect backflips, literal or methaphorical).

[fiksal]

In calm and rational society, yes he should regularly go to a doctor as we all should, and not be in the position where his health prevents to do the kind of work he does

in that sense, it's fine to slow down and retire and do something not insane like politics


so hopefully he does monitor his health for his own sake


but we don't live in calm and rational society. If the runner up is Trump, all the right wing voices of Biden's fitness are a white noise, considering who they think is mentally stable

[Falcrack]

Maybe opening myself up to criticism here, but in the church I belong to (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), the current president of the church is 99 years old. He speaks often to the church membership, and every indication is that he is still quite mentally sharp. So I think we have to take every person's age on a case by case basis.

Of course, there are past presidents of the church who have had dementia, and in those cases, the counselors took up the day to day business of church leadership. But that is what counselors are for.

As to presidents of the US, as long as we have a VP who can fill in for the president should he/she become incapacitated, and as long as the president has the humility to step aside if he/she is unable to adequately fulfill the role, I am fine with that. But Biden should be up front about being willing to step aside if need be to help allay some of the concerns about his age.

[fiksal]

as much as I don't want to see white rich old men dominating US politics, age itself is not an issue in my book

[matthewfarmery]

as much as I don't want to see white rich old men dominating US politics, age itself is not an issue in my book

I think it should be, both Biden and Trump should not be able to run due to their age concerns. while not trying to derail the thread, I think both men have some major mental decline. And there should be some amendment to cover this. In Trump's case, he has mixed up names and slurred speech. I think if your running for the highest offices in the land, someone needs to have better mental capacity. I think its high time that the US updates its laws ethics, to cover mental conditions. That fact that it has not, should be a major concern.

[Alan Phipps]

If a faction-popular presidential candidate cannot be disqualified for illegal behaviour, then why would anyone expect a few more related 'rules' to get accepted or to have any effect?

[Golden_Gonads]

From the few articles I've seen, Biden is mis-speaking on a more and more regular basis the past year or so. Not enough to cause immediate concern, but it's an indication that he get significantly worse over the next few years, which will become a major issue should he be re-elected. Trump is showing the same, though to a lesser extent - That said, he speaks enough nonsense that it's difficult to say how much is indicative of mental decline and how much is Trump being... Trump.

[fiksal]

- That said, he speaks enough nonsense that it's difficult to say how much is indicative of mental decline and how much is Trump being... Trump.

is there a difference if Trump says nonsense due to metal illness or due to being Trump?

seems like same diagnosis

I recall a talk of people from Trump's cabinet to remove him due to mental issues

[Falcrack]

Personally, I am not convinced that even if he develops dementia while in office, it would be a disaster. There are multiple redundancies in government. There is the vice president. There are advisors. I am not concerned if a president is super quick witted. Far more important to me are the principles they hold. If they flub a name every once in a while, that is a bad image, but not necessarily bad in terms of policy of ability to govern. To me, character and integrity in a leader is far more important than any other consideration, including cleverness and charisma.

[Observe]

I am not concerned if a president is super quick witted. Far more important to me are the principles they hold.

In spite of some memory loss, it is not uncommon for elderly people to make better decisions than younger ones. This presumably is due to a greater storehouse of experience that an older person can draw on. Personally, I have my reservations about Biden, but those are not specifically age related.