Editor’s Note: From the Back Forty is Liberty Nation’s longest-running and most popular weekly column. 

First Lady Jill Biden has hit the campaign trail, rolling out a new strategy to lure voters into re-electing her husband. But more than a few folks on the progressive left are hinting that the current president needs to be put out to pasture. How can the struggling candidate capture the 18 to 110-year-old demographic?

Recent polls have pegged President Joe Biden as owner of the dubious title of most unpopular president in 70 years, causing cocktail party circuit alarms to go off and plenty of backroom discussions. The unease of Democratic kingmakers does not bode well for POTUS continuing on as the party’s standard bearer. In fact, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, just 38% of registered voters approve of his performance.

Biden’s fall from grace comes from public perception of declining mental acuity, inability to communicate, and a shuffling presence where he tends to run out of batteries in public and freeze for minutes at a time.

Is Biden’s Age Truly a ‘Gift?’

The Biden campaign has seemingly decided that since they can’t deny the president’s advanced age, they will glorify it instead. Dr. Jill is even currently rolling out “Seniors for Biden,” an effort aimed at the 65-plus crowd.

“This isn’t just about stopping an extremist, and this election is most certainly not about age,” she stated during a campaign stop in Green Bay, WI. “Joe and that other guy are essentially the same age. Let’s not be fooled.”

So, we have a “healthy, wise 81-year-old” and a less bumbling “healthy, wise” 78 in the case of Trump. It’s true that both are older than most presidential candidates, but who stands out as diminished to voters and who looks strong? Kenny Campbell in the Volunteer State was shocked: “Wise? Did she really say wise?”

In her post, Amanda Warren in the Peach State had emoji side-eyes: “She realizes that we can see him too, right?”

The Biden Rumor Mill Heats Up

Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) dropped a bit of gossip in Jesse Watters’ lap last Thursday, June 13. She candidly stated that lawmakers on the Hill were “hearing” that POTUS will soon be “spending more time with his family.” Translation: He will be out of political life sooner rather than later.

“A lot of people realize that Joe Biden is likely not going to be the nominee,” continued Luna. “Which is from what we’re hearing on Capitol Hill, and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) had reported that Kamala Harris [is] actually eyeing a run for California governor because of it.” And while disparaging remarks from the opposition party are to be taken with a huge dose of salt, such rumblings have leaked into the otherwise Biden-friendly Fourth Estate.

The New York Times ran an opinion piece this week titled “The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do.”  After enumerating the various feats Mr. Biden would need to accomplish to win the contest in November, the author arrives at his damning conclusion:

“It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world.”

Famed Democrat strategist James Carville echoed a little of this buyer’s remorse last week, lamenting the current situation. He said, “I thought that President Biden should consider not running for the election, but that’s not the choice he made. And so, I’ve got to live in the world that I’ve got to live in, not the world I wanted to live in.”

Marsha Prince of Ohio suspects she knows who Biden’s replacement might be: “Don’t be surprised if Michelle [Obama] changes her mind ‘for the good of the country’ after she gets nominated at the convention! Just sayin.’”

Time to Unplug and Reboot

Joe Biden is beginning to take on the persona of an unstable Wi-Fi connection that occasionally disconnects completely. He used to shake invisible people’s hands, but now he plays freeze tag at big events like a jazzy Juneteenth celebration.

During a recent D-Day ceremony, he just turned around for no apparent reason, and his entourage awkwardly turned as well. Granted, he was likely tired. Just recently, during the G7 Summit, the president smiled while watching a paratrooper land on target only to wander away and stare at the ground. Luckily, presidential aides had prepared for this moment, and an official cat herder brought number 46 back to the photo-op.

No wonder Democratic insiders have the jitters. Even folks who signed onto Team Biden in 2020 are rethinking their options this time around. It’s becoming clear that influential left-leaning talk show host Charlamagne Tha God is frustrated with Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, for example. Charlamagne has been miffed since Biden commented that not voting for him in 2020 means “you ain’t black.” He won’t endorse Biden – although Charlamagne says he won’t vote for Trump, either. There’s speculation that those who have fallen off the Biden bandwagon are hoping for a surprise nomination of somebody other than Biden this August at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Charlamagne recently railed against the Democrats as a whole, stating:

“Listen, man, Democrats have a problem. It’s not their policies. It’s not their fundraising. It’s not that Joe Biden started buffering at the Juneteenth party. No, no. The problem they have is their messaging. Or, to say it plainer, it’s how they talk. Nobody wants to hear the normal political voice anymore.”

Well, he has a point there. Of course, there was more, with Charlamagne adding in an odd compliment for Trump: “He is a guy who knows what he wants and knows how to get it. The message is terrible, but it’s clear. When he says build the wall, lock her up, I hate sharks, no one goes, ‘I wonder what he means?’” He continued: “Folks appreciate when someone sounds authentic, even if their ideas are terrible.”

Burt Gorges down in Higden, AR, isn’t much of a Charlamagne fan but commented: “It’s tough shilling for the Democrats when they’ve displayed how little they care about minorities.”

But in Ankeny, IA, the message was mixed, as Brad Johnston stated: “I agree with him, but seriously? With a name like Charlemagne Tha God? That’s not inauthentic at all.”