Joe Biden, 75, cancels major speech on 'doctor's orders'

Joe Biden, as everyone knows, still wants to be president. But he’s already five years older than the oldest man to ever become president.

And now we learn Biden is sick.

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He just canceled a sold-out appearance as the keynote speaker today at the Illinois State Fair for Democrat Day which, let’s be honest, is pretty much every day in Illinois.

We don’t know why or how the former vice president is sick because a spokesman only said he’s “under doctor’s orders” not to travel. Not specifying an illness always piques interest in the news business because it begs the question, What are you hiding? Any hint of a critical health issue would be the end of a serious candidacy, at any age.

As someone positioning himself to join the crowded field of Democrat wannabes for 2020, Biden, a persistent Trump critic, has been campaigning for this year’s crop of party candidates.

That’s another sign he’s maneuvering to jump in the race, acquiring chits and favors to perhaps call in someday. That’s how Mitt Romney spent the years between an unsuccessful 2008 primary run and his nomination in 2012.

The next signal of a looming Biden candidacy would be to publish a new book next summer or fall as primary campaigning gets heated.

Biden is 75 now. So, caution in healthcare is warranted as even minor ailments can easily become more serious at that age.

If he ran and was elected president, Biden would turn 78 right after the 2020 election. That’s about seven years older than our oldest incoming president, Donald Trump. That’s also a year older than Ronald Reagan was when he left office after two terms.

Of course, ambition has no age limit. Ironic though that at 75 Biden is considering another run. Ten years ago he criticized GOP nominee John McCain as far too old to become president. At the time, McCain was 71.

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As departing vice president, Biden almost ran in 2016, which could have been his best shot after several previous unsuccessful tries. But he bowed out, citing his son’s death from brain cancer a year earlier.

In recent speeches longtime liberal Biden has sounded more moderate, which could be suicide in today’s Democratic Party that’s falling in love with socialists and far-left progressives.

It could, however, also be smart contingency planning because Biden would basically own his party’s lonely center in the event more extreme wannabes crashed and burned.

Either way, Biden’s name helps sell fundraiser tickets. What other big names besides Obama have Democrats got? Seriously.

Just two days before Biden was set to appear in Springfield, Doug House, president of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, said his speaker had pulled out:

Everyone who knows Vice President Biden knows that he gives our party and our country his all, but unfortunately he is sick and is under doctor’s orders not to travel. The cancellation is, of course, disappointing, but it is clear that the circumstances are simply unavoidable.

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Jazz Shaw 2:00 PM | March 26, 2024
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