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On 26 May 2022, Molly Bolt <mollythebolt666@gmail.com> posted some news:e06a84dc-5666-4a5e-9b3b-6c97502e7ab4n@googlegroups.com:

Democrats want the black whore in charge.

“My memory is fine,” President Joe Biden said at a press conference
designed to refute claims that he’s “an elderly man with a poor memory.”

Minutes later he mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi as the “president of Mexico.”

This is what average Americans have seen of this president over the last
few years. And this is the issue that could doom Biden’s reelection
chances.

Americans have observed the following: Biden is 81. He has memory
problems. He fractured his foot playing with his dog and has what one
Democrat called “an old man walk.” Sometimes he gets names wrong.
Sometimes he gets dates wrong. He pauses for uncomfortable stretches,
seeming to search for a word or thought that’s not quite there. He has a faraway gaze that makes him look out of it.

In a recent NBC News poll, 76% of voters said that Biden “not having the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term”
was a major or moderate concern for them. That includes 54% of Democrats
and 81% of independents. These are the voters Biden and his team will need
to return to the White House. Rather than level with Americans about
Biden’s clear issues, they too often dissemble and get defensive or pivot
to Donald Trump’s age. Yet to voters Trump, who despite being just three
years younger, appears less frail. Only 48% of voters have the same
concerns about Trump’s age and fitness.

Biden, who likes to say he is a shoot-from-the-shoulder politician, must
admit that average Americans aren’t part of some right-wing cabal when
they notice signs of his aging. Many have seen a similar decline in
themselves and family and friends.

The president can’t keep telling Americans to believe him, not what
they’re seeing. He must acknowledge what everyone sees and is talking
about, then succinctly pivot to his real strengths. He is a fundamentally decent man. He has restored America’s reputation as a reliable ally. He
pulled the American economy out of a ditch. The Biden economy has seen
higher wages and lower unemployment. The Biden economy added 353,000 jobs
last month. Millions of students no longer have burdensome student loan payments.

Yes, Biden gets names wrong. But he has gotten the big issues right. Biden might forget that he met with a certain world leader, but it’s because he
has met with hundreds over his 40 years in public service. He might forget
a date, but he remembers the people and the values he is fighting for. A
Black woman sits on the Supreme Court and in the vice president’s office —
in fact, Biden’s team is one of the most diverse the country has ever
seen.

He should showcase this team as often as he can, emphasizing that the presidency is a team effort. While former President Donald Trump was often derided for his need to show off obsequious cabinet meetings, those
meetings helped burnish his image as the leader of a loyal team. Biden
should borrow from Trump’s playbook. The presidency is not only about legislative accomplishments, it’s also about the visual display of
strength, power and leadership. Telling Americans that Biden is engaged
isn’t as effective as showing that he is.

The White House must put him out there often, mistakes and all. (Is it too
late for him to do the Super Bowl interview?) Hiding the gaffe-prone
president, as his team seems prone to do, will only make the gaffes
bigger. If he’s out there enough, eventually reporters will tire of asking
him if he’s fit for the job. His constant presence and engagement will be
its own answer. He will surely make mistakes, but the stakes will be much lower. Every event won’t have such high stakes, as happened with his
recent press conference, if he’s constantly flooding the zone.

His ability to connect with ordinary, struggling Americans is unmatched —
his call with the family of a fallen soldier was incredibly moving and authentic. His genteel, pastoral and grandfatherly manner is an asset in a fractured and angry country. His campaign must look for ways to highlight
this strength.

Democrats have for many months been privately frustrated with the way the
White House has dealt with the age issue. They have pressed the
president’s team to do more. The special counsel’s report on Biden’s
handling of classified material has forced them to take their heads out of
the sand. Democrats can try to spin the report’s characterizations of
Biden as a forgetful old man as the musings of a partisan hack, but it
won’t work. They must instead follow the political adage of hanging a
lantern on a problem. Yes, Biden is old, but look at the scoreboard.

Democrats like to say that the campaign hasn’t started yet — but it has.
Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee and he’s campaigning like one.
In fact, he has been campaigning for the White House since 2015. The conservative echo chamber is vast, coordinated and unmatched, and has been
his running mate. And it’s been very effective at making Biden’s age the primary issue for voters. The president’s penchant for gaffes and his
team’s nothing-to-see-here approach hasn’t helped.

Right now, 2024 seems to be shaping up like 2016. Democrats are
downplaying the flashing warning signs. Their coalition is fraying and unenthused. They’re relying too heavily on the specter of “crazy Trump.”
And they’re full of hubris about their political skills and a Covid-fueled
2020 victory. The big difference this year is that if Trump wins in
November, nobody will be surprised. The choice in November isn’t between
two old men. It’s between an unhinged, wannabe dictator and a stable, well-meaning leader who believes in America’s bedrock principals of
freedom and democracy. Biden surrounds himself with policy experts. Trump
has Mike “My Pillow” Lindell and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Biden believes in
law and order. If elected, Trump will pardon himself and the
insurrectionists. Biden has Kamala Harris and a strong, competent cabinet. Trump will install conspiracy-driven MAGA loyalists.

Democrats must accept that Biden isn’t getting any younger. Embrace his
age, amplify the Dark Brandon theme, tout his successes and his
experienced team and stop pretending that it’s a made-up issue. They can’t argue that they are in touch with the concerns of average Americans, while ignoring voters’ concerns over the president’s age. Instead, they must
show that they hear them and try to ease their discomfort. They should be constantly hammering Biden’s many successes and Trump’s litany of
failures. Ignoring the issue will only allow voters’ doubts to fester and
help pave the way for a Trump victory in November.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-02-11/democrats-can-t- ignore-voter-concerns-about-biden-s-age-any-longer

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