Throughout our nation’s history, we’ve seen our fair share of First Ladies who have done wonderful things during their husband’s terms in office. Service has been key to those women’s time as First Lady. You might not like them, but you have to respect their dedication to their chosen causes. Laura Bush with education, Eleanor Roosevelt with social causes, Melania Trump advocating for children, Barbara Bush with volunteerism stand out. Even Rosalynn Carter who championed, among other things, mental health assistance for those who needed it. Then we have “Dr. Jill”, whose main goal seems to be propping up her husband and doing–and saying–everything she can to justify returning him to the Oval Office in the next election.

The First Lady is on what is being called the “Seniors for Biden-Harris” tour. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were a young voter, I’d be a bit worried. This tour seems to say the Biden campaign cares more about older Americans than it does anyone under retirement age. As someone who is no longer a “young” voter, it concerns me because I see Dr. Jill (and you have no idea how much it galls me every time I hear her referred in that manner, especially by her husband) trying to win over older voters not because Biden has a better grasp on the issues currently facing our country but because “he’s lived history“.

My first question for her is if he actually remembers it?

While in Reno, Nevada at a “pep rally”, she told the crowd that “We can’t wake up on November 6 like we did in 2016 terrified of the future ahead of us.” She’s right. We can’t. We can’t wake up knowing we have a president who is now four years older than he was in 2016 and even less effectual than he was then. We can’t wake up suspecting the President’s mental acuity is slipping, something we’ve seen over the last four years. How many times has he made assertions about things he did in the past only to have them quickly proven not to have happened as he said? How many times must we listen as his handlers try to explain away his misstatements? Yet, according to the First Lady, he’s just fine.

Joe Biden is a healthy, wise 81-year-old ready and willing to work for you every day to make our future better,” she added. “Joe isn’t one of the most effective presidents of our lives in spite of his age, but because of it.”

If that statement didn’t cause you to shudder just a little, you’re made of sterner stuff than me.

Consider that statement. According to her, and taking into consideration she was speaking at a rally of senior citizens, Joe Biden is one of the most effective presidents since World War II. Now be honest with yourselves. Would you feel comfortable with Biden sitting in the Oval Office with the United States facing something like the attack on Pearl Harbor and everything our country faced and had to overcome during WWII? Can you see the other nations of the world listening to him and following his lead during such trying times? How about 9/11? Or some of the serious economic challenges we’ve faced during those years?

He may have lived during those years, but that doesn’t mean anything beyond he’s as old as those men and women Dr. Jill spoke with.

She went on to say:

“I see Joe every day. I see him out, you know, traveling around this country. I see his vigor. I see his energy. I see his passion every single day.”

She may actually believe this. But as someone who has lived with a loved as they aged, or who suffered through illness, seeing them every day often means you don’t see all the signs of decline, especially mental decline. Such things can be slow and insidious in how they progress. In my own family, I saw this with my grandfather. He was living with my parents at the time and I was in college. They didn’t see how his mental acuity was declining because it was slow and they saw him every day. But when I came home after several months away, it was like a slap in my face. I had to sit them down and have a hard discussion about it. Perhaps someone needs to do the same with Dr. Jill.

She is right about one thing. This election isn’t about age. What we have to ask ourselves is who will be the best president for the country, who will our allies respect the most and be willing to follow on the world stage. We also have to consider if the person we’re electing is someone our enemies understand will not sit back and wring his hands as they try to wipe an entire country or people off the face of the earth. This is a lesson Biden lived through (look at what happened when Reagan took office after Carter and see who the Iranians really feared). Yet it is a lesson he either didn’t learn or has forgotten.

There is one more thing we, as voting Americans, need to consider. Both major candidates are in their 80s. That means it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that whoever wins the election might not end up serving out the entire term. So look at who their running mate happens to be. Ask yourself if that is someone you can get behind as president. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms

Don’t fall for Dr. Jill’s rah-rah, we are all seniors who need to support the nice old man who lived history spiel. Remember this, a recent poll of Biden’s supporters showed that “54% still say he is too old for the job”.

Remember that as you make your decision about who to vote for in November.

Welcome, HotAir readers!

Featured image: Dr. Jill Biden (2016), cropped and adapted from an original image found here. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.