Like many of you, Embry and I tuned into Thursday’s presidential debate only to find ourselves in dismay. This morning, I read all that was available online in The New York Times and The Washington Post and spent the better part of the morning watching Morning Joe (my favorite unbiased and nonpartisan television news channel). It turns out we are not alone. Today—the morning after– the Democratic Party is in a panic mode. The big questions are whether Biden’s performance was so bad that the party’s movers and shakers should try to persuade him to step down while there is still time for a replacement and who might that replacement be.

While practically everyone acknowledges that his performance was poor—due to looking and acting old and frail and muddling his words– most Democrats also point out that he has been a great president. Because of that some argue that he deserves another four years. In any event, unless he voluntarily releases his delegates, an action which seems unlikely, he will the party’s nominee, like it or not. Besides, switching horses at this late stage is extremely risky, especially since the race is so close. What to do?

My recommendation? Biden should withdraw. It is time to pass the baton to the next generation. I wrote a blog post over a year and a half ago, pleading with Biden to announce that he was honoring his pledge to be a one-term president. (See “Just Say No, Joe.” November 13, 2022.) My argument then was simply that he was too old to seek a second term.

One of the pundits this morning on Morning Joe commented that we should not worry too much. While Biden may lose the vote of many young people, he will likely pick up votes from seniors that will compensate for losing younger voters. They will love him for it.

Please. I doubt few octogenarians will be happy to see someone our age in the Whitehouse.

I am nine months older than Biden. Last time I checked we Homo sapiens have a limited life span on the planet Earth. When Biden and I were born, it was about 76. For those who make it to 82, on average we men have a tad over seven years left, about a year longer for women. So what is the problem? A second term would only be four years.

The problem is that we humans all slow down as we age, and we all lose certain capabilities, both physical and mental. We just can’t do many of the things we used to be able to do. I just returned from my 60^threunion at Davidson College. Over a third of my classmates have died; and the 15 percent or so of those who made it to the reunion, no one I talked to was still working in a full or even a part time job. Of all my friends my age or close to it, I know only one person who is still working and no one who has a full time, high pressure job. We seniors understand that we slow down. This is our experience. We know that disabilities set in, try to deal with them as best we can, and understand that we just can’t perform at the level we used to at a younger age. I do not know anyone in their 80s who would say they miss being in a high pressure or stressful job.

There are age limits for lots of jobs in the private sector and for good reason. The average age of a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company is 57. Only 18 percent are over age 65. It seems that the one major exception to this is the gerontocracy of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. I do not understand why this is the case but suspect it has to do with the kind of support that they have, their responsibilities or lack thereof, and workload. In any event there is a big difference between being a U.S. Senator or Congressman and being the President of the United States.

In my case, a decisive turning point was turning 80. However, there were many transition points along the way—when I gave up serious waterskiing in my mid 30s, when I gave up serious running in my mid 50s, when I sold my consulting company, also in my mid 50s, and began part time consulting, when I retired from adjunct college teaching and gave up tennis and canoeing in my late 60s, when Embry and I sold our house and moved to an apartment building in my mid 70s, and when we sold our last sailboat in my late 70s. Sailing was probably the toughest one to give up, but in each of these milestones, I came to realize that I could not continue to do these things anymore. But turning 80 seemed different and more like a watershed moment. I have still been able to keep up my walking 15-20 miles a week but at a much slower pace and I need to get more rest. With a bad knee and balance issues I have started using a hiking stick for long walks. I am forgetting names more often. But I am the lucky one. I do not have any life threatening diseases and am still able to keep moving—and blogging. But at age 82 being able to do any serious, high stress work is out of the question. Being the President of the United States? I don’t think so.

So what should happen next? It will take some time for leading Democrats to figure this out. But if Biden is going to step aside, it needs to happen soon. Trump right now is ahead in almost all the battleground states, and Republicans are euphoric. However, Biden shows no sign of throwing in the towel and reportedly gave an energized speech in Raleigh today to a crowd roaring their approval. Some will argue that there is still an opportunity for a better showing in a second debate.

But what about the stakes? If Trump were to get elected, democracy would be at risk for our country, and the damage he could do world-wide is unthinkable. Think Sixth Great Mass Extinction. It has already been 130 million years since the last one. These extinctions have occurred every 130-150 million years. Could we be next? Never have the stakes been higher. I don’t know if Biden read my November 2022 blog post, but he should, and he should follow my recommendation.  However, he does not have the luxury of time. It needs to happen now.