Poor old Joe is being advised to retire from all quarters

Suddenly, President Joe Biden is getting advice from all kinds of people about retiring at the end of his four-year term and handing over to someone younger. Several big-time US columnists, such as David Ignatius of the Washington Post, are saying it's time he recognised that he will be too old to be president for another four years from 2025. Now Mitt Romney, a one-time would-be president and a grandee Republican senator from Utah, has offered the same advice. He's stepping down as senator at the next election and he's in his 70s, not 80s, like Biden. The clamour for Biden to hand the reigns to a younger Democrat is getting louder by the day. As far as we know, Biden is ignoring the advice and is resolved to stay and fight for another four years. The debate about Biden’s age and health has broadened out into a bigger discussion about the country’s ageing leadership. The focus is also on Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican Minority Leader of the Senate. He is 81 and on two occasions has frozen in mid-sentence, looking both confused and bewildered. After medical tests he has reassured everyone that his health is fine and he remains determined to see out his Senate leadership term which is due to end in January 2025. He is already the longest-serving party leader in US Senate history. He will be approaching the age of 83 when his term as Minority leader of the Senate ends. If McConnell were to suffer any further moments when he freezes and becomes temporarily unable to speak, the health and age issue is going to be raised again, and the senator could find himself under pressure to retire from public office. The big question is whether the public feel confident about having such ageing leaders. McConnell comes up for reelection to the Senate in January, 2027 when he will be nearly 85. Opinion polls have shown that the majority of people questioned have their doubts about voting for a president, Joe Biden, who would be 86 by the end of a second term in office. Both Biden and McConnell will have the job of convincing the doubters that they are still fully capable of doing their jobs and do not need to be replaced by someone younger.