Biden is apparently an English or Irish name, but it certainly lends itself to its own adaptation of the German term schadenfreude, meaning “pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.”
In this adapted usage, Bidenfreude refers not only to the agony of being Joe Biden, which ought to be misfortune enough, but also to the predicament of the Democratic Party, which is likely stuck with backing him for re-election in 2024 when he will be 82 years old. Before the mid-term election, when most everyone expected Democrats to get slaughtered at the ballot box, there was an obvious battlespace-preparation campaign taking shape to blame Biden for the Democrats’ loss. But when Democrats’ surprise midterm result put the wind back into Biden’s sails.
But it seems the “dump-Biden” campaign is regrouping, and starting to employ the usual techniques of “ventriloquist journalism” to revive the cause. Behold The Hill, which “reports” that there are “lingering questions” about Biden’s ability to run again. Questions from whom? By whomever the reporter can flog a quote from. And it’s pretty clear the Democrat-Media Complex is terrified of Ron DeSantis:
Biden also enters the new year with lingering questions over his age and his overall political strength — most notably whether he can defeat a different Republican in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he is the GOP nominee in 2024. . .
Cristina Antelo, a Democratic strategist who runs Ferox Strategies, said Biden’s age remains a concern among Democratic voters, despite a string of legislative accomplishments by Democrats under Biden — and his party’s midterm performance.
Biden, 80, would finish a second term at the age of 86. . . polls give credence to Democratic fears about Biden’s age. A recent USA Today-Suffolk University poll found that 50 percent of Americans want a president between 51 and 65 years old, while 25 percent want a president 35 to 50 years old. Only 8 percent said they wanted a president who is between the ages of 66 and 80.
The Hill has company. The reliably left Michael Tomasky frets in the New York Review of Books:
The biggest question hanging over Biden remains his age. On November 20, the president turned eighty. This means he’ll be approaching eighty-two at election time 2024; if he runs and wins, he would finish his second term having just turned eighty-six. It would take a rare man who in his mid-eighties could handle the rigors of the presidency, particularly at such a tense moment in history. . .
In some circles such talk is deemed ageist, but these questions are fair to raise.
Takeaway: Bidenfreude is back on, baby! The template for the media drum circle has been set.
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