Kathleen Parker has a column up today at the Washington Post which is bound to irritate the Post's readers and most of her colleagues. The column takes a rather circuitous route to reach her main proposal: Democrats should replace Kamala Harris with Hillary Clinton.

Biden’s steady decline the past few years — his stumbles, his search for words, his occasional blank stare — has been impossible to ignore. Such change isn’t a reflection of character; it’s part of the natural order of life, and it isn’t ageist to take note...

Inarguably, a significant obstacle to a Biden win is Kamala Harris, whose low popularity has not been improved by her lackluster performance as vice president. More independents and disenchanted Republicans might swing for Biden if it weren’t for the prospect of a President Harris — not because of her sex, race or any other demographic category, but because of her competency, or lack thereof...

No one has mentioned her as a possible running mate for Biden far as I know, but why not replace Harris with Clinton? At 76, she might want no part of it, but it’s hard to retire when you feel your job isn’t done. If Biden needs to step down, even those who didn’t vote for Clinton would have confidence in her ability to keep the country on track.

The story ends with Hillary Clinton, but notice where it starts. Joe Biden's age is a problem that will not go away for Democrats. Replacing Kamala Harris at this late date is never going to happen, but it's a sign of the desperation some people are feeling that columns like this are still popping up.

Next up, CNN has a story out today about First Lady Jill Biden's efforts to soften the age issue, especially among older voters.

Age has proven to be an inescapable issue in the rematch between two seniors – Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, who turned 78 on Friday. But the first lady is using her unique position as a spouse of the oldest president in US history and a senior herself – she turned 73 last week – to speak of the benefits of aging and appeal to an important voting bloc.

“The woman I am today is wiser, stronger, more insightful and more confident than I was all those years ago,” she said. “Every line on my face has been earned by the furrowed brows of difficult decisions made. By the sun of countless roads traveled, by the sweet strain of deep laughter with the people I love. Age is a gift.”...

“No, we cannot be defined by a number. And when people underestimate us, they do it at their own risk,” the first lady said in Duluth on Thursday. “Let’s show what these years can do.”

Clearly, the White House knows this is a big issue they need to address on the campaign trail. And who knows, it might even work. Jill Biden is certainly a better surrogate than Kamala Harris on her best day.

This kind of effort at reassurance about Biden's age isn't just happening in public, it's also happening behind the scenes. Yesterday the NY Times reported that billionaire Jeffrey Katzenberg has taken on the job of reassuring Biden's donors, sometimes with special visits to the White House.

When President Biden made clear last year that he was planning to run for another term, some important Democratic contributors expressed doubt. He was too old, they feared. He was not up to another four years.

It fell to Jeffrey Katzenberg to tell them they were wrong. When some still did not believe him, Mr. Katzenberg challenged them to come to Washington and find out for themselves — then arranged to bring the dubious donors to the White House to sit down with the octogenarian president to convince them he was still sharp enough.

First, the fact that Biden's donors were worries speaks volumes. Second, that was a year ago. I wonder what those same donors would think if they met up with Biden again now. Because, like it or not, word keeps leaking out that maybe Biden isn't doing so well. We had a big story in the Wall Street Journal just over a week ago suggesting that, behind the scenes, people could tell the president was slipping. Democrats reacted to that like a vampire reacts to sunlight, but today the Sun published a very similar story about Biden's recent trip to Italy.

The 81-year-old has been "losing focus" during the gathering of world leaders in Puglia, Italy, according to well placed diplomatic sources.

One told The Sun: "It's the worst he has ever been."

Another insider added that while the president had shown moments of sharpness and clarity during meetings, at other times he had appeared to be "losing focus" and concentration.

This is nearly the same pattern described in that earlier WSJ story. It's not that Biden is completely lost all the time, but that he seemed to slip in and out. Sometimes he's sharp but other times he's drifting and unfocused. How many more stories like this will we get before November? Does anyone really think Biden has another four years in him or is this just a way to foist President Harris on a country that would never elect President Harris?