This commentary is by Ron Pulcer, a resident of Rutland Town who retired from the information technology field. He is a guitarist and enjoys skiing and hiking in Vermont.
An April 2023 NBC poll found that majorities of Americans didn’t want either Joe Biden or Donald Trump to run again for president. NBC reported that 70% of respondents said Biden should not seek reelection, including 51% of Democrats. Of the same people, 60% said Trump shouldn’t seek the presidency again, including a third of Republicans.
A big factor is the candidates’ ages.
When I first heard these poll results, I had just started an online course called “Aging and the Senior Skier” for my continuing education credits for Professional Ski Instructors of America. This course was designed to help teach older skiers who might be returning to the sport, or want to ski more efficiently as they age. This course was also helpful for me personally, as I will soon be eligible for Medicare.
I’ve met a few instructors who are in their late 70s and early 80s. These folks have been an inspiration to me. I hope to be able to continue working on the slopes as long as I’m able. Luckily, being a ski instructor is a seasonal job and I don’t mind the cold weather. At least teaching skiing is not a stressful 24/7/365 job like being president.
One feature of skiing that is favorable for senior citizens is the chairlift ride to the top of the next run. Rest breaks are built in. In contrast, presidents work long hours and need to make sure to schedule time for their favorite activity, be it bike riding or playing golf.
The course identified three types of aging. Chronologic age is the passage of time. Biden will be almost age 82 on Election Day. Trump will be 78 years old then.
Biologic age refers to body changes that commonly occur with aging, and may affect some people sooner than others. Differences between apparent ages among people of similar chronological age are due to habits, lifestyle and subtle effects of disease. Do we need a primetime debate between Dr. Kevin O’Connor, D.O., and Dr. Ronny Jackson?
Psychologic age is based on how people act and feel. The lively 80-something ski instructor teaching beginner Gen-Z skiers is considered psychologically young.
Changes in vision and hearing are early signs of aging that can affect senior skiers. Even a run that a senior skier has skied many times before can suddenly cause that skier to pause or become frozen by fear. Flat light conditions can make it hard to detect changes in terrain. Taking it slow while others are passing by in crowded conditions can also be intimidating.
Other factors to consider include stamina (respiratory system), osteoporosis, and sensory feedback from joints to the brain. The course gave tips for working with senior skiers to take advantage of their strengths while trying strategies to help mitigate the effects of aging.
One important thing that senior skiers contend with is fear of falling — not only while skiing, but also when walking around the resort, outdoors and indoors. Ski resort employees thankfully get annual training on how to prevent slips, trips and falls.
Most of us, myself included, have never met a U.S. president. We see only a fraction of what the president does and most of that is “made for TV.” We may make judgments about a president’s job performance on a small sampling of video clips and punditry.
We occasionally see a president on the stairs of Air Force One, or walking across the White House lawn, sometimes in the dark, or walking down a ramp at a graduation ceremony. Presidents often walk while being videotaped, sometimes waving and looking toward the cameras, not the direction they are walking.
How they appear on camera doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with their decision-making ability or their state of mind. What TV viewers may sometimes see is a senior president’s natural “fear of falling,” just like the senior skier.
We’ve all seen video clips of the stairs for Air Force One: Biden falling and his multiple attempts to get upright, or Trump’s toilet paper stuck to his shoe, or Trump giving up on closing the umbrella. These are fodder for late-night comedy shows.
But as with skiing, you will eventually fall, and you will have to get up and try again. I can appreciate a persistent president getting up from a physical fall or political defeat and trying again. I also appreciate my ski helmet for those occasional times when gravity wins.
My main concern for America is a “fear of falling” into further political gridlock, violence, civil war, insurrection and autocracy. Like the recent I-95 road collapse near Philadelphia, our Constitution, republic and democratic infrastructure are at risk.
Despite empathy for our senior presidents, I’m not looking forward to this next election. I really wish that the DNC and RRNC would sign a truce. Agree that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, for the good of the nation, end their campaigns and make room for younger candidates.
Please, Democrats and Republicans, put country over party. It may be time for Biden and Trump to hang up their skis.
