Well, not exactly now. There wouldn’t be much point to a diary where I didn’t say anything. But after this diary, I will drop the subject of this diary until at least after November.
First, I’m not going to pressure Elizabeth Warren to drop out. For one thing, it’s not going to make any difference. She isn’t a pulling votes from anybody. But more to the point, I believe that she will do the right thing for our country and the Democratic party. She is a woman who has made her life about doing the right thing. She isn’t going to go on an ego trip now.
But what I want to talk about now is the two-candidate race we now have ahead of us. (Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t count.) It’s Biden and Bernie from here on out.
Predictably, I’m switching my allegiance to Bernie. I supported him in 2016 and I think he’s running a better campaign this time. I always knew that if Warren didn’t make it, I was going to move to the Sanders camp.
But, the realist in me knows as of this morning, it doesn’t look that good for Bernie either. There is plenty of time an plenty of unpledged delegates left. Anything could happen. And if at the end of the competition, Biden is the one left standing, I won’t have any qualms about voting for him. He’s not nuts. He’s a good man with a lifetime of public service under his belt.
But here’s what’s bothering me. He and Bernie are both in their late 70s. So, I can’t argue that my candidate is the young, vigorous one. However, side by side, I think Bernie’s in better shape (physically and mentally) — even with Bernie’s heart attack earlier this year. At least, comparing their speeches last night, Bernie’s diction is crisper and he put in more energy.
To my ear, (and I was paying more attention to how he said things than what he said) Biden was slightly slurring his words. He was thankfully free of the brain fart that made him forget the words of the Declaration of Independence a couple of days ago. But his tongue was thick (or something).
I’m not going to say that Bernie has never tripped over his tongue. By the end of the 2016 campaign I was getting increasingly worried about his mental stamina. But he’s pretty much stayed on the road for the last four years. He has built up his endurance to the point where I’m not seeing the fatigue blunders so much anymore.
I’m not talking ideology now. I’m with Bernie’s policies, no question. But right now, I’m just talking about which 77/78-year-old man has the strength and endurance to make it all the way to the end of a grueling eight-month campaign. Which one will have all his wits about him every time he has to fend off an attack from the Trump campaign? Which one will have all the necessary words at his disposal when he’s asked an unexpected question?
I hate to be ageist. Really I do, as a person who got aged out of my career seven years ago. But realistically, we have to accept that sooner or later, everybody who lives that long gets old. Many people remain just as sharp as when they were 40 when they’re 80 or 90. And we’ve even seen 80 and 90-year-olds who are still athletic. (Personally, I never was, so don’t look for that from me.)
I don’t think Joe Biden is anything like senile. He probably would score 20-30 years younger than Trump mentally.
But neither Biden nor Bernie is a spring chicken. As we age, the probability of a debilitating health event rises.
Geez, I wish we still had someone 60 or younger in the race. (Tulsi Gabbard still doesn’t count.)
If our eventual candidate has to leave the campaign trail for health reasons, we lose.
Now, that said, I am pledging to not bring this up again (unless it happens, then I’ll probably say “told you so”) until after the election. I do not want to undermine the nominee, no matter who it is. I am going try my best to only say good things about my candidate and skip running down his competitor.
The outcome of this contest will be the outcome. I will work to make the winner my candidate — and whatever happens, the winner WILL be my candidate.