U.S. presidential race needs new blood

President Biden announced his choice of headquarters for his 2024 re-election campaign Tuesday, and it’s not a good look.

Biden will be working from home, running his campaign from his Wilmington, Del. residence.

Biden picked Philadelphia as HQ for his 2020 campaign, but the pandemic saw him spending a lot of time at his Wilmington digs. The pandemic is over, and yet the president is staying put.

He put a great spin on it: “My family’s values, my eternal optimism and my unwavering belief in the American middle class as our nation’s backbone comes from my home — from Delaware,” Biden said in a statement. “That’s why there is no better place for our reelection campaign to have its headquarters,” Politico reported.

Perhaps his basement represents the country’s strong foundation.

It’s hard not to see the hand of his White House team at play here: a literal home base means fewer opportunities to take a header up the stairs of Air Force One, or stumble over a sandbag, or otherwise be seen as the octogenarian that he is.

There’s nothing wrong, of course, with being a senior citizen. But being president of the United States is grueling work. Just look at photos of past presidents on their first day compared to their last. They earned that white hair.

Democrats see Biden as the best candidate to go up against Trump, who is leading the Republican pack at 49.7%, according to FiveThirtyEight polling. The thought of a third-party rival keeps them up at night. So the push is on to shore up Biden, stress accomplishments, breeze by his faults and hang on for dear life until November 2024.

But voters can see the cracks, and Biden’s age and stumbles are fodder for jokes. His recent performance as a confused head of state exasperating King Charles during a welcome ceremony at Windsor Castle didn’t inspire confidence in our Commander-in-Chief.

While the move to re-elect the president is ginning up enthusiasm among the party faithful (the Biden-Harris campaign, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees raised $72 million in the second quarter of the year, according to Politico. Former President Donald Trump raked in just north of $35 million in the same time period), it can’t stop voters from wistful speculation about Gavin Newsom or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Democrats want whoever they think can beat Trump, and right now that person is President Biden. But the American people want a strong leader, and to have a reasonable selection of candidates for the job. Third party candidates have too long been demonized as a choice that “throws away” a person’s vote. That line of thinking has to stop.

We need real choice on election day, not a replay of old rivalries, nor candidates picked at national conventions on the basis of who will shore up party control for another four years, or wrest it back.

Polarized party politics is doing great harm to the country, from gridlock on Capitol Hill, to the inability to address issues as they are, instead of a chance to volley an attack across the aisle.

The voters will speak next year — but will Democrats and Republicans hear them?