Remember when NJ was saying he was a "placeholder"? Aside from being the worst placeholder ever, who could replace him? The clown Buttigieg who proudly proclaimed bridges are racist??
Or does this leave room for the party to get FURTHER hijacked by leftwing extremists. There was a time when the party had a reasonable platform.
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/democrats-looming-leadership-vacuum/
President Biden is the oldest president in American history—at 78 years old when inaugurated, he was already older than previous record holder Ronald Reagan, who left office while still 77. Now Biden is reportedly planning to run for a second term. Sources tell The Hill that he has informed Barack Obama to this effect. If he wins and serves out another four years, he would be 86 at the end.
Now, this may not actually happen. The Hill is not exactly a reliable source, and it is generally politically unwise for a president to announce long in advance that they are not running for a second term even if that is the case, since it makes them a lame duck and sets off an instant succession scramble. But it is still indicative of a political party looking down the barrel of a huge power vacuum because its elderly leadership has not paved the way for any successors.
Biden is 79, but he is still younger than the entire House Democratic leadership. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are both 82, while Majority Whip Jim Clyburn is 81. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is a comparative spring chicken at just 71, though Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin is 77. At 57, Vice President Kamala Harris is by far the youngest top-ranked Democrat, and she is still ten years older than Barack Obama was when he was inaugurated in 2009. As Christopher Ingraham points out, this makes the average age of the president and the leaders of the House and Senate higher than it has ever been in American history.
Worse, there is not even a middle-aged heir apparent for any of these positions. So far, reporting on Pelosi’s plans to retire has been contradictory, but if she does give up the speakership both her lieutenants will likely also quit, and it would be a succession free-for-all. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is the likely successor to Schumer in the Senate, but she is just as old. Harris would take office if Biden were to die before his term was up, but if he does not run again, insiders are already predicting a bitter primary battle because her approval ratings are so soft—just under 40 percent approval in the FiveThirtyEight polling average, though to be fair Biden’s numbers are just as bad—and she has relatively little firm support in the Democratic establishment.
Or does this leave room for the party to get FURTHER hijacked by leftwing extremists. There was a time when the party had a reasonable platform.
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/democrats-looming-leadership-vacuum/
President Biden is the oldest president in American history—at 78 years old when inaugurated, he was already older than previous record holder Ronald Reagan, who left office while still 77. Now Biden is reportedly planning to run for a second term. Sources tell The Hill that he has informed Barack Obama to this effect. If he wins and serves out another four years, he would be 86 at the end.
Now, this may not actually happen. The Hill is not exactly a reliable source, and it is generally politically unwise for a president to announce long in advance that they are not running for a second term even if that is the case, since it makes them a lame duck and sets off an instant succession scramble. But it is still indicative of a political party looking down the barrel of a huge power vacuum because its elderly leadership has not paved the way for any successors.
Biden is 79, but he is still younger than the entire House Democratic leadership. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are both 82, while Majority Whip Jim Clyburn is 81. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is a comparative spring chicken at just 71, though Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin is 77. At 57, Vice President Kamala Harris is by far the youngest top-ranked Democrat, and she is still ten years older than Barack Obama was when he was inaugurated in 2009. As Christopher Ingraham points out, this makes the average age of the president and the leaders of the House and Senate higher than it has ever been in American history.
Worse, there is not even a middle-aged heir apparent for any of these positions. So far, reporting on Pelosi’s plans to retire has been contradictory, but if she does give up the speakership both her lieutenants will likely also quit, and it would be a succession free-for-all. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is the likely successor to Schumer in the Senate, but she is just as old. Harris would take office if Biden were to die before his term was up, but if he does not run again, insiders are already predicting a bitter primary battle because her approval ratings are so soft—just under 40 percent approval in the FiveThirtyEight polling average, though to be fair Biden’s numbers are just as bad—and she has relatively little firm support in the Democratic establishment.
