There’s a saying in sports that “Father Time is undefeated,” which is why Michael Jordan no longer plays basketball and Tom Brady no longer plays football. The same is true in politics, as is becoming increasingly obvious.
On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, the 81-year-old leader of the Senate Republicans, froze while taking reporters’ questions. Asked about his re-election plans, he twice asked for the question to be repeated and then stared blankly ahead.
His aides responded like an elderly parent’s adult children who are becoming accustomed to handling such situations with firmness and grace. McConnell previously froze during a press conference in July. He fell and suffered a concussion in March.
By now, you may know where I’m going with this. President Joe Biden is 80 and has been showing his age for years. He is running for re-election without any real opposition from his party, even though 77% of Americans – and 69% of Democrats – said he is too old to serve another four-year term effectively. That’s according to a recent poll by the Associated Press and the NORC at the University of Chicago.
In addition to Biden’s numerical age, Americans have seen his falls and verbal stumbles. He seems OK day to day, but he is not getting any younger, and if he is re-elected, he will be 86 by the time he leaves office.
It is not hard to imagine a scenario where the vice president and Cabinet members consider invoking the 25th amendment declaring him to be incapacitated, making the vice president the acting president. That would be a huge step, and the temptation would be to cover for him and get through the end of his term.
At the same time, the likely Republican nominee is former President Donald Trump, who at 77 is only three-and-half years younger. The AP-NORC poll found that 51% of voters said he is too old to effectively serve another four-year term. Seventy-one percent of Democrats said so, but they perhaps would say so regardless. Notably, that’s about the same percentage of Democrats who said Biden is too old. Twenty-eight percent of Republicans said the same about Trump.
Regardless, if he is elected, he would be 78 years old when he took office, and he would leave it at 82 as the country’s oldest-ever president.
It’s possible to remain vigorous and healthy past the century mark. My parents are about the same age as Biden and Trump. While they won’t run a marathon, they have not lost a step mentally. Mom and I had a wonderful time a few weeks ago completing the Sunday crossword puzzle. She’s better at it, although I think I may be slightly better at Wordle. As for me, I have no shortage of daily evidence that 54 is not 27.
Jordan and Brady were competing at high levels when they retired for the final time, but they knew it was their time to leave their sports gracefully. They did not want to be like those once-dominant athletes whose skills were obviously diminished.
If great athletes do not step aside voluntarily, they eventually will be forced to do so by injuries or by their coaches and managers. It might have taken years, but even Jordan and Brady would have ended up on the bench and then off their teams. Coaches have to win.
Voters should be willing to make the same hard decisions. A presidential election is no game. There comes a time for political leaders to step aside with honor and be accorded the honor due them. As with Jordan and Brady – in fact, more so – it should be done before their skills have declined too muc.
If they won’t do that, then voters and party leaders might have to make that choice for them. Respectfully, 86 is too old to be president, and 82 is certainly pushing it.
Wisdom can come with age, depending on the person, but Father Time is undefeated against everyone.
That’s true in sports and also in politics. Obviously, lately.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 13 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.
