COMMENTARY: Biden’s cancer news highlights need to confront age issue

When news broke recently about Biden’s diagnosis of prostate cancer with metastasis to the bone, there were many expressions of sympathy from both sides of the aisle.

But while many Americans were sympathetic, none of them was surprised. An 82-year-old man with prostate cancer is about as shocking as a 21-year-old with a post-frat-party hangover. It’s an age-related outcome we’ve come to expect.

The Constitution addresses the issues raised by excessive youth. Thus, the requirement that a candidate must be at least 35 years old to serve as president is found in Article II, Section 1. The age requirements for the U.S. House (25) and Senate (30) are found in Article I.

Our system acknowledges that a candidate for high public office can be too young. Why not be too old?

The embarrassing details about Biden’s failing mental acuity while in office have provoked a flurry of finger-pointing. Some blame reporters defending Biden’s obvious infirmity rather than reporting the hard facts. CNN’s Jake Tapper accusing Biden critics of mocking his stutter, for example, helped Biden avoid scrutiny, they argue.

Others blame big-name elected Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, who, even after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, told voters the president was doing fine and deserved four more years.

He wasn’t the only one. Despite the undeniable decline on display in the debate, Pennsylvania’s Democatic Gov. Josh Shapiro also publicly defended Biden. Though it was untrue, Shapiro insisted that Biden was “up to the job” of an additional four years as chief executive. And he urged his party to rally behind the unfit incumbent.

Politico reports Shapiro is trying to rewrite history. “I can tell you that I was very frank with the president during his campaign about what I saw were some of the shortcomings,” he told Politico. “I was very honest with him in a private setting about that.”

However, the news site reports that in August 2024 — even after Biden had dropped out of the presidential race — Shapiro was saying he had no concerns about Biden’s mental acuity: “Not at all, and I’ve been in regular contact with the president.”

Still others say Democrats such as Schumer and Shapiro were doing what they had to as party loyalists. There’s only one man to blame, and that’s Biden himself. He knew he wasn’t up to the job. He campaigned, pledging to serve a single term, and then he chose to run again, anyway. It’s all Joe’s fault — not a joke!

At this point, why waste time placing blame? Wouldn’t it be smarter to prevent it from happening again? And this is one of those rare political problems with a simple and obvious fix: Don’t let old people serve as president.

Amending the Constitution is never easy (that’s a feature, not a bug), but it can be done. And in the current climate, it’s easy to see how an amendment that reads, “No person can serve in elected federal office after his or her 80th birthday” would roll through Congress and on to the states.

This amendment would be supported — whether they like it or not — by some of the biggest names in American politics: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (85), Sen. Mitch McConnell (83), Rep. Jim Clyburn (84), and perhaps even Trump, who is a youthful 78.

(Don’t worry, MAGA voters, the amendment wouldn’t take effect until after he leaves office.)

The decision of Democrats to ignore Biden’s infirmity and boost him in 2024 looked risky at the time. In hindsight, it’s despicable and self-destructive. And don’t forget that when Biden finally dropped out, his brother Frank told CBS News’ chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, “Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.”

If it turns out, as many believe, that Biden and his family knew he had cancer months ago and he chose to run anyway, that would compound the Democrats’ disaster. It also adds to the case that this decision should be taken out of the hands of very elderly candidates.

There’s an argument to be made that the voters will solve this problem. In Illinois, 80-year-old Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat, announced he isn’t seeking re-election next year. A few weeks earlier, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, 78-year-old Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire did the same.

Would they have made the same decisions if the Biden example weren’t front and center before the voters?

Another way for voters to fix this problem is by fixing the Constitution. Joe Biden’s example is every reason.

Michael Graham is the managing editor at InsideSources.com.