A debate has intensified among advisers of former Vice President Joe Biden if he should publicly promise to serve only one term as president if elected, Politico reported on Wednesday.
One adviser argued that public acknowledgment of the reality that an 82-year-old Biden in 2024 won’t run for re-election could help assure younger voters who are uninspired by his candidacy among concerns that his presidency could turn into an eight-year roadblock for the younger cadre of Democrats gaining prominent positions of power.
By this reasoning, if Biden states that he won’t run for re-election and chooses a vice president and Cabinet that is young and diverse, he could offer himself as a transition figure who could defeat Trump and help bring into power activist Democratics with new ideas.
This way of thinking also takes into account a scenario where Biden could always decide in the end to run for a second term if the circumstances warranted it and there was a public desire for him to do so.
The question has become more urgent in recent weeks as Biden has rebounded to take a solid lead among polls for the Democratic nomination. A Quinnnipiac survey released this week showed that he has a double-digit lead over his nearest Democratic opponent in the primaries for the first time since August.
Opponents of the idea fear that a clear pledge of a one-term presidency would be a show of weakness that could turn Biden into a lame duck and deprive him of his political capital.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.