WASHINGTON

- While they were having lunch at a restaurant in the US capital, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton answered a question from Edward Luce, America's editor for the Financial Times, about her potential re-run in the 2024 presidential race by saying, "No, it's out of the question." .

"First of all, I expect President Joe Biden to run, and he certainly intends to run," Clinton said.

However, the fact that Biden will turn 81 in the upcoming elections is a growing concern among many Democrats, and speculation about his fate increases with each verbal lapse or physical fall.

Over the weekend, Biden fell off his bike, and despite his rapid recovery from the ground there was renewed debate about his ability to carry out his presidential duties with his ill health and advanced age.

Biden's age is currently 79 years old, and he will turn 80 next November, and if he runs for the next elections and wins, he will remain in power until he reaches 86.

Forty years ago, there was a wide debate about the age of former President Ronald Reagan when he ran for president in 1980 and he was 69 years old, and 8 years later, when Reagan left the White House after a second term with clear signs of declining mental and physical abilities, he was younger than Biden today in which he began his presidency, and no candidate has ever run for office and no president has ever begun or continued to perform his duties at the age of 80 years or more.

A wide debate took place when Ronald Reagan was nominated for president in 1980 at the age of 69 (Getty Images)

Biden's high age began to appear early during his presidential campaign, and many Democrats admitted that, but they rallied behind him as "the only candidate who can defeat Donald Trump."

After more than a year and a half in office, and with the historical rise in inflation and gasoline prices, and the decline in satisfaction with Biden's performance below 40%, the Democratic establishment can no longer avoid addressing the issue of Biden's future and perhaps search for an alternative candidate for the upcoming elections.

Yes, I intend to run for the elections of 2024

In 2019, Biden's campaign touted primaries as a "transition figure" whose main goal is to oust Trump and then pave the way for a more youthful Democratic face, but it seems Biden won't keep that promise.

The White House has said repeatedly that Biden intends to run for re-election, and it is widely expected that this will be officially announced after the midterm elections that will be held next November.

Many Democratic officials are aware of the difficulty of persuading Biden not to run because of his high age, and the fear that this will be considered a stalker for the elderly, at a time when they are a very important voting bloc to resolve any electoral race.

On the other hand, the elderly dominate the joints of the Democratic Party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82 years old, followed in the party ranking by Representative Steny Hoyer, 82, then Representative Jim Claribon, 81, while Senator Dianne Feinstein is 89 years old.

The elderly control the joints of the Democratic Party, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 82 years old (Reuters)

Biden's bad record

Biden's low approval ratings and faltering legislative agenda raise questions about whether Democrats would fare better in 2024 with another candidate.

The lapses that Biden commits from time to time have contributed to drawing negative attention to the decline in his capabilities, especially when he makes spontaneous comments on important political issues, which his aides are forced to retract, as was the case after he said last March that Russian President Vladimir Putin "He cannot stay in power," or what he said that his country "will go to war against China if it invades Taiwan."

On the other hand, a poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal in March showed that nearly half of voters and a third of Democrats do not believe Biden will run again, with many citing his age as the main argument against him. to be nominated.

Another poll conducted by Yahoo News last week found that 40% of Biden's 2020 voters said he should not run again, compared to 37% who said he should.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted last May disappointed Biden's team, as his approval numbers were the worst during his presidency, with only 33% of Americans approving of his job performance compared to 54% who disagree.

If Biden runs for the next election and wins, he will remain in power until he is 86 (Reuters)

No.. do not run

The spread and outbreak of the Covid-19 virus served Biden not to have to run a presidential campaign that required a lot of electoral conferences during the 2020 elections, and with the spread of the virus subsiding, he will have to lead a traditional election campaign in 2024 that requires appearing daily at one or more events, which he seems unable to With his age.

On the other hand, President Biden's Democratic Party is widely expected to lose its majority in Congress in November, keeping Biden as a lame duck in the second half of his term.

Hence, some Democrat heavyweights like David Axelrod, the chief strategist under President Barack Obama, are sounding the alarm about what might happen if Biden sets out to run for president again in 2024.

"The presidency is a terribly stressful task, and the stark fact is that the president will be closer to 90 years than he is to 80 at the end of a second term, and that will be a major issue," Axelrod told The New York Times.

Behind Axelrod are a large number of Democrats who are grateful for Biden's victory over former President Donald Trump in 2020, but who want young leadership in the elections in 2024, but it is very difficult to find an alternative.

Automatically Vice President Kamala Harris will jump for president if the Democratic Party does not provide a strong alternative candidate (Reuters)

The dilemma of the absence of a strong alternative

The Democratic Party does not have any high-caliber alternative candidate, and the vice president traditionally jumps to fill this void if the president is not re-nominated, but the situation is more complicated in the case of Biden's deputy Kamala Harris, and her opinion polls indicate that her numbers are no better than Biden's low numbers And Democrats have widespread doubts about her leadership capabilities.

He excludes left-wing senator Bernie Sanders, 80, from running against Biden, but leaves the door open to competition in the event of the latter's decline.

Democrats' speculation also touches on Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but there is no clear lead for the 2024 election.