Many different Americans have many different expectations for their duly elected officials.
A common, bare minimum expectation for those officials is that they are cognizant and functional whilst lawmaking.
Well, bad news for the incumbent president: A new poll found that Americans are struggling to describe President Joe Biden as either cognizant or functional.
The fact that this poll was conducted by NBC, a generally more left-leaning network compared to Fox News, should provide extra consternation for Biden and his team — especially in the midst of a polarizing re-election bid.
On Sunday’s episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press” — hosted by Chuck Todd — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a guest and there to discuss a litany of topics.
One such topic? That very same NBC poll which seemed to throw Biden’s ability to lead into serious question.
“We have a new poll out and we asked various questions having to do with President Biden and his ability to do the job [of president],” Todd told Klobuchar on Sunday.
You can watch the entire episode below:
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“Uh, does [Biden] have the mental and physical health to serve?” Todd asked.
That’s when he dropped the brutal results on Klobuchar.
“The concern among Democrats has doubled since October 2020,” Todd flatly said. “It was only one-in-five Democrats who had that concern before Election Day 2020.
“It’s now over 40 percent. It’s at 43 percent. You were just with the president at the state dinner. Do you have concerns?”
“No, I don’t,” Klobuchar said. “We all saw his power at the State of the Union. Our party is united behind him. Why? Because we work in a results-oriented business, Chuck.
“And he has gotten results.”
Curiously, Klobuchar’s response doesn’t seem to strike at the heart of the issue.
Regardless of how deflated or inflated one feels about Biden’s actual accomplishments as president, that’s not what this NBC poll was asking about.
The poll is specifically asking about concerns of Biden’s ability to lead moving forward.
Biden could cure cancer and solve world hunger, but the fact remains that he is the oldest president ever seeking re-election. Past accomplishments are not indicative of future successes.
That’s the primary concern of the 43 percent of polled Democrats. In fact, most of those polled probably think Biden has, as Klobuchar alluded to, already “gotten results.”
Despite Klobuchar’s redirection, the issue is not what Biden has or has not accomplished.
The issue is that he is a historically old president seeking re-election, but facing a genuine roadblock in the tangible doubts over his ability to lead the country. If these concerns preclude Democrats from voting for Biden, he may end up being a single-term president.
But should he be a two-term president, the numbers speak for themselves. The incumbent president is already 80, meaning that by the time the 2024 general election rolls around, he will be 82. If he were to finish his second term, he would be leaving the White House as an 86-year-old.
That is literally uncharted territory in American politics.
And because of that, it is more than fair to have reservations — ranging from the mild to the severe — about Biden’s ability to serve another term.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.