With each passing day on the campaign trail, Joe Biden’s cognitive issues are becoming more pronounced. Has the time come for Democratic leaders to approach the commander-in-chief and address the unspoken pressing issue that plagues his re-election bid? Is it time to do the political equivalent of asking Dad to hand over the car keys?
Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss where the Democrat party should go with Biden, and why they won’t go there.
“Biden’s age is a huge problem, and I think the country’s ahead of Biden now,” Kelly told Berman and Larry Mendte, sitting in for Riedel. “The sad part about it is that the White House and Biden haven’t seemed to recognize it yet. Is it because of pride, it is because they’re just closed in, I just don’t know, but this is a huge issue. [The migrant issue] needs to be debated and talked about and discussed, and yet, what are we talking about? Whether our current President’s age is a factor.”
Two things complicate the problem, as Kelly sees it. One is Donald Trump’s recent comments about the absence of Nikki Haley’s husband, who is in the National Guard and currently deployed in South Africa. “I come from a military family. My father… was wounded in Vietnam. I know what it’s like to have somebody come to your door and say your father has been… killed or wounded. I know what that’s like, and for Trump to say what he said about Nikki Haley’s husband, I don’t understand why veterans across the country are not up in arms about this.”
The other issue is the choices- or, as Kelly indicates, the lack thereof- the Democrats have to step in for Biden. “Of course, the problem is that who steps in here. The bench is really thin here. I mean, this is the Mets bullpen; they don’t have anybody. There’s nobody! I mean, come on, Kamala Harris? No, I don’t think so. Gavin Newsom? Uhm, I don’t know. Phil Murphy of New Jersey? No! So, where do we go with one? Yeah, it’s a tough one.”
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