You know I love you, right? I love you as our nation’s President almost as much as I love President Jimmy Carter—and anyone who knows me will assure you that’s a helluva lot. I have no problem with any of your policies during your term in office as well as your leadership as Veep for President Barack Obama. Time and again, you’ve proven the naysayers underestimate you. And it’s been a lot of fun watching you win time and again and basically be right about everything. And it’s your wisdom, that truly comes from having served in DC for decades, that has made you a superior American president. Slow and steady wins the race. You taught us well. We appreciate you more than we can say. Hope you know that.
But … you were only supposed to serve one term. Remember? That was the plan. Four to five years ago, you knew age would become a problem for anyone in his 80s serving as U.S. President. And these times in which we are living are extremely difficult for us laypeople to understand, even more for all nationally elected officials the world over.
Come on. The very practical Joe Biden in 2020 would acknowledge and accept the natural progression of human frailty especially when turning 80. Your life has been stellar, inspirational, a dream come true in many ways. It’s been a damn good life, a long life—and, honey, it’s time to let someone else lead the Democratic Party.
Now don’t cry. Don’t you cry on me. I can’t stand to see a grown man cry. I know, it’s common among the elderly. Bless your heart, you can’t help it.
Look, we’re not kicking you to the curb. We just need a Democrat who can and will counter each and every lie spouted by Republican nominee President Donald Trump. We need that more than anything at this point in time.
So, allow the Democratic National Convention to do what they should have been doing all this time: scanning the nation for viable presidential candidates. You can be a big part of the process. Surely you have some ideas of viable contenders. You know everyone. I like the list from 2020, and all us Dems like the strong, popular and articulate governors like California’s Gavin Newsom and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer. They could win. They could beat Trump. What’s more important than that?
And I——-will always love you——
You may not remember my best friend Jean, now deceased. But she was from your hometown of Wilmington, DE, and proudly knew you. She worked on your first campaign in the 1970s. She later moved to Dallas where the two of us became fast friends. She once told me I was one of a very few liberal Democrats she knew in Texas. And she always told me, “Joe Biden would make a great president!”
I didn’t think much about you in the 1990s when Jean and I became friends. I wanted Al Gore. But I was OK with Bill Clinton winning. Years later I would have voted for Hillary Clinton, but she would not commit to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Obama said he would end the wars. (The Republicans and their perpetual wars. What were they thinking? And for twenty long years.) So I voted for Obama over Hill to end the wars, and he was able to end only one of them. Then almost as soon as you took office, you ended the other forever war. It was abrupt, awful, deadly, messy, reminiscent of when we pulled out of Vietnam. But as always, you’ve proven you can do the most terrible jobs of a U.S. President. To your credit, we’re not entering another war. Let’s keep it that way.
My good friend Jean actually knew you. And I had faith in my best friend. After all, we were simpatico. I miss her so much, now more than ever. I do believe, however, that even Jean would be practical enough to talk candidly with you, as a Wilmington neighbor and lifelong supporter, about bowing out gracefully. Don’t run again in 2024. You’re beautiful. Be gracious. Allow candidates with experience and maturity and most of all the quick wit to call Trump’s constant BS. They learned from watching you, you know.
With this election, I’m not sure you are the only one who could beat Trump. And for perfect strategy, we could use someone younger, you know younger than Trump. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate counter: running someone younger?! Of course!
America really needs to get over electing the elderly for U.S. President. Why have both national political parties put us in this precarious position? Like we are to believe that Trump and Biden are the only possible candidates in the entire country for U.S. President? Don’t believe it for a minute. We can’t even talk about it for fear of upsetting our own elderly parents. Too old is too old. Our country has a minimum age for running for president. Makes sense we’d amend to cap the opposite end. I say 69. No one can and should run for U.S. President if older than 69. Fair enough? And no, we don’t need to wait and see if time will tell. After the unprecedented summer presidential debate, it’s crystal clear: Time is not on either political party’s side.