Joe Biden to consider running for re-election in 2024

The president of United States, Joe Bidenleft Tuesday for a vacation in the Caribbean, where he is expected to ponder a long-awaited New Year’s resolution: decide if he will seek re-election in 2024.

The Democratic president came under heavy criticism Tuesday morning on the conservative Fox News channel, where commentators accused him of “preparing to have a good time” as a brutal snowstorm has hit the United States for a week, leaving at least fifty dead.

But Biden travels to the US Virgin Islands to rest after an eventful year 2022.

The last few months could have reaffirmed the will of the octogenarian to stay four more years in the White House.

The first half of his tenure saw the peak and resurgence of the covid-19 pandemica humiliating withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan, inflation at its highest point in 40 years and the fallout from his Republican predecessor Donald Trump’s attempt to upend the American democratic system.

But in 2022, his party limited the damage, even winning congressional seats in midterm elections, ahead of the December passage of a law protecting same-sex marriage. Besides, gasoline prices, after a spectacular rise, have almost returned to normal.

On the international stage, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine resulted in the formation of a US-backed alliance that remains in place after more than ten months. And in its rivalry with China, Washington renewed its commitment to its Asian allies.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are in some disarray as they prepare to retake control of the House in January, and Trump, still the party’s dominant figure, faces multiple investigations.

No wonder Biden gloated in an op-ed published by Yahoo News just before Christmas.

“As I take stock of 2022, and look at all that is to come, I have never been more confident in what the American people and the American economy can achieve,” he wrote.

The issue of age

In American history, incumbent presidents almost always run for re-election at the end of their first term, and often win.

Only three presidents who completed their first terms decided to resign without seeking a second term. Trump He is among the few presidents whose re-election failed.

But everything changes if Biden’s age is taken into account.

The president would be 82 at a possible second inauguration and 86 at the end of a second term, nearly 10 years older than the previous White House old-age record holder, Ronald Reagan, who left office at 77.

Whether or not age matters is a matter of debate, often stark.

Republicans seek to portray Biden as senile. They point to his usual verbal stumbling blocks, his stiff gait, and moments when he seems confused or forgetful.

Biden’s supporters say the president, whose gaffes and stutters were a hallmark throughout his long political career, shows daily that he’s in charge of a complex job and that many of his qualities come to the fore when he’s at it. off-camera at high-stakes meetings at the White House.

Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, concluded in his annual report a year ago that, apart from relatively minor signs of old age, the president was in excellent health and “fit to successfully discharge the duties of the presidency.” .

A new physical is expected shortly and O’Connor’s new evaluation will be closely scrutinized.

Biden, for his part, wants Americans to judge him by his results, saying that age is just a number. “Look at me,” he often says.

The decision to run would spark an all-out battle for the remainder of his term. It could end with a rematch against Trump, who has already made public his intention to run.

However, if Biden decides to step down, his Vice President Kamala Harris would be in prime position to succeed him, but this could have many opponents and cause destructive infighting for Democrats.

What Biden decides or doesn’t decide in the Caribbean will remain a closely guarded secret. But his chief of staff, Ron Klain, has already said the announcement was only a matter of time.

“I think the president will make that decision shortly after the holidays,” Klain said this month, adding that he expected Biden to be a candidate for re-election.