Author: Sanjh Vishwakarma

A recent survey shows strong support for putting Donald Trump to the White House and the criminal-defense table and that Joe Biden has lost his main advantage—not being Trump.

Voters in this survey prefer the thief over a mentally failing president.

The survey doesn’t yet show that respondents would prefer Trump as president if he were convicted of the offenses charged against him and for which they want prosecution. Thus, we cannot be positive that American voters would opt to fence off a piece of the Oval Office for a jail cell to avoid four more years of President Biden until age 86.

Trump would lose a few poll points if convicted on a serious offense instead of the 34 misdemeanors a Manhattan Democratic prosecutor filed stupidly to boost his candidacy.

This ABC/Washington Post study shows American politics’ failure. It’s inevitable.

One party may nominate a man trusted by just 41% of the population, mostly because the rest think he’s elderly, mentally ill, and a poor president. The opposition party appears ready to propose a man trusted by just 33% since the rest consider he is an ethical and moral wasteland.

A percentage of those ready to answer to a survey asking them to make that terrible choice—presumably indicative of the voters as a sample—seem to be clutching their noses as they chose the moral wasteland.

If the election were conducted today between Trump and Biden, Trump would win 44-38.

Trump is supported because 54 percent of Americans think he handled the economy better than Biden, 54-32 think he is smarter, and 64-33 think he is healthier.

Thus, although Biden won in 2020 because he wasn’t Trump, Trump may win in 2024 because he’s not Biden.

The Democrats can’t beat Biden, and the Republicans can’t top Trump.

That’s American politics’ complete failure.

The study found that 77% of “Democratic-leaning independents” want more than Biden from the Democrats. “Democrat-leaning independents” are “decisive swing voters.” Trump leads Biden among suburban voters, reversing Biden’s 2020 triumph.

This study puts Asa Hutchinson, our own Republican candidate, at 1%. The survey didn’t poll Democratic Biden alternatives, likely because the pollster couldn’t conceive of any.

South Carolina’s Jim Clyburn’s backing helped Biden beat a weak Democratic field in 2020. Clyburn is accused of conspiring with Republicans during redistricting to diminish Black voting power in South Carolina to strengthen his own district for re-election.

In 2020, Biden received timely support from Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, his defeated New Hampshire opponents. Draft-Klobuchar and draft-Buttigieg movements look unwinnable.

Kamala Harris? Republicans are fighting against her because Biden’s age is a major worry if she becomes president.

Bernie Sanders? He predates Biden. He could run older than Biden without deteriorating because he’s always been this way.

The state Early Childhood Education and Care Department suggested a regulation modification to retain extended eligibility for early childcare assistance on a day of action by certain early childcare institutions countrywide.

In 2021, ECECD allowed a family of four earning up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to receive state aid for early childcare. ECECD wants to make the policy permanent.

Early childcare providers will receive higher fees and keep a $3 per hour boost from 2021 under the regulation change. ECECD communications director Micah McCoy told NM Political Report that no early childcare worker would make less than $15 an hour, but lead instructors can make $20.

If approved, the proposal will exclude households up to 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from copays for early childcare and exempt families receiving early child care assistance from gross receipts tax on child care.

A Day Without Childcare, coordinated by Community Change Action, coincided with the announcement. Cities across closed early childcare centers for a day to remind the public of their economic value. The organization wants early childcare instructors to receive a livable wage like K-12 public school teachers.

An early childcare advocacy charity, at least five New Mexico early childcare institutions participated.

Las Cruces’ Kelly’s Learning Academy closed for the day. Merline Gallegos, the academy’s director, said she has been in business for 11 years and has 17 children on a waiting list, but she has had to pay her staff out of pocket to stay operating. She stated her clients’ parents understand why she closed for a day.

I’ve done one-day closures for two years. “I want to raise awareness nationwide for an affordable, racial justice-based childcare system,” Gallegos stated via an interpreter.

Gallegos stated ECECD’s modifications will raise care provider compensation by 20–30% and professional educator salaries by $3 per hour.

“This is a big step for us,” Gallegos remarked via an interpreter.

Gallegos said there is an early childcare desert, especially for 0-to-3-year-olds, which affects parents. She observed over 20 early childcare institutions shut during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Most early childhood instructors are women of color, according to OLÉ NM digital director Jennifer Matthews.

She told NM Political Report that public school educators should get equal remuneration.

Attendees of Gallegos’ day of action also discussed industry racism.

Maria Hernandez, who came in the U.S. without a social security number, claimed she used to care for children. She works in Las Cruces’ chile fields and raises her daughter’s children.

We’re immigrants. It’s racist. “I can look after kids,” Hernandez claimed through an interpreter.

Hernandez claimed her daughter works in chile crops. Another family member watches her daughter’s two children while they work.

Lourdes Perez, a non-English-speaking mom, said putting her children was difficult.

“I understand more than I speak,” she told the interpreter. If you don’t speak the language, centers don’t see or talk to you.

Perez supported Gallegos’ early childcare worker wage hike day of action.

Perez, a state-subsidized mother of six, said she and her children worry that Gallegos’ program may collapse without further funding. Perez, a Spanish speaker, repeatedly told an interpreter that she felt secure leaving her children at Gallegos’ center and how important that was to her.

Las Cruces chile fields employ Perez. To work, she must drop off and pick up her children between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Perez told an interpreter, “It would be very difficult if she closed because of my income to leave my kids.

Perez met Gallegos at a bus stop by happenstance. Gallegos teaches her two-year-old linguistic skills, which is why she values her center. Perez also trusts Gallegos to assist with her autistic child. Two of Perez’s elder children visit the facility after school.

“She helps with homework,” Perez stated through an interpreter.

Gallegos, her mother, employs Las Cruces first-year student Jennifer Martinez. Martinez aspires to run an early childcare facility like her mother despite her mother’s struggles.

She believed a pay boost would allow her to live.

“No other state in the nation is doing more to relieve the financial burden of child care for families and make sure early childhood educators are fairly compensated for the incredibly important work they do,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a news release. “This administration will continue our groundbreaking work to build an early childhood system that lifts up families and supports bright futures for our children.”

Written comments on the proposed rule change are due by June 22, 2023. The ECECD will receive public comment from 9 to 11 a.m. June 22 in PERA Building, Apodaca Hall, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe.

“Our proposed changes add to a set of historic and generational investments in New Mexico’s prenatal-to-age-five system that will be a game changer for families and young children in our state,” said Elizabeth Groginsky, ECECD Cabinet Secretary, in the statement.

After two separate incidents of mass shootings that rocked Serbia the previous week, President Aleksandar Vuic of Serbia announced many new measures, one of which was an amnesty for illegal firearms, which went into force on Monday.

After a 13-year-old boy carried out a shooting rampage in Belgrade, which resulted in the deaths of eight people, a 21-year-old man carried out a similar attack close to Mladenovaa a little more than a day later.

According to the new measures that were introduced by the president, individuals are permitted to turn in any firearms, ammunition, or explosive devices to the nearest police station, even without having to leave the comfort of their own homes.

People who are in possession of weapons that have not been registered can phone the local police station and ask for a patrol to collect their guns without having to provide any form of identification.

“It is important to emphasize that citizens who turn up their guns during this period, which lasts through June 8th, will not be subject to any criminal responsibility or consequence. According to a written statement released by the Ministry, “the origin of the weapons does not have to be proven, nor is any documentation required to be presented.”

Vui estimates 400,000 individuals own pistols or other non-hunting guns.

“Everyone’s license will be reviewed, and there will be no more than 40,000 left when the process is complete. “Those who keep guns will be subject to checks every six months, appointments with doctors and psychiatrists, and mandatory drug tests that they will be informed about only 48 hours before they take,” Vui added.

The Ministry of Justice in Serbia will be responsible for drafting the revisions to the present legislation that would strengthen penalties for illegal manufacturing, possession, carrying, or sale of weapons or explosive materials. Concurrently, the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Health in Serbia will be responsible for outlining a strategy for required inspections of gun owners.

Protesters in the meantime launched a demonstration called “Serbia against violence” in the downtown area of Belgrade. The protest’s organizers demanded that violent TV programs be banned and that the Serbian parliament have an immediate discussion on the current state of security in the nation.

Protesters demanded the resignation of both the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bratislav Gai, and the Chief of the Bureau of Internal Affairs, Aleksandar Vulin. Branko Ruic, who was serving as Minister of Education, has already tendered his resignation.

Protests were also conducted in other cities around Serbia, including Zrenjanin and Novi Sad.

The most recent city to attempt to deal with the issue of sky-high rent is Carpinteria in California.

Mark Carlson, a member of the staff, stated that residents of California pay more than citizens in other states.

Roy Lee, a member of the Carpinteria City Council, stated that he had urged the city to include the topic on the agenda in the hopes of assisting residents of the community.

The lone public response was made by a local person who identified themselves as Kit Brown.

She called in to strongly encourage the council to take action over the situation.

Brown stated that she will be forced out of her apartment because of renovations.

The staff provided anti-displacement measures such as rent stability, subsidies, revisions to short term rental agreements, and safeguards against eviction.

In response to what are known as “reno-victions” in Isla Vista, where some residents paid $2,200 for a one-bedroom apartment, Santa Barbara County has just recently established safeguards.

According to the information provided by rentcafe.com, the typical monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Carpinteria is greater than $2,400.

The staff suggested that the council pass a resolution recommending the adoption of modifications and priorities pertaining to housing.

Following a brief debate on the topic, the members of the council agreed unanimously to accept the suggestion made by the staff and to give the staff the authority to prioritize the available choices.

This week, the politically divided Ohio House must act on a Republican-led proposal to make it tougher to modify the state constitution.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections leader, set Wednesday as the deadline for lawmakers to pass a related ballot question on Aug. 8. However, jittery GOP backers might blow beyond the deadline without proponents relenting.

Fairness Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that promotes ballot initiatives, says Republican moves to curtail direct democracy in Missouri, North Dakota, and Mississippi preceded the clash.

Ohio Right to Life is leading a pressure campaign of strong lobbying and attack commercials

The future of abortion access, marijuana legalization, the minimum wage, Ohio’s electoral map-making system, and vaccination requirements may be at risk. All have growing constitutional amendment efforts.

The House is expected to vote on a measure to require 60% of Ohio voters to approve all constitutional amendments. Ironically, the measure would pass with the same 50%-plus-one simple majority as in 1912.

While a case is pending, Ohio allows abortion up to 20 weeks. Abortion rights organizations are preparing a November ballot initiative to entrench the right to abortion in the state constitution.

GOP lawmakers are pushing for an August special election where voters might limit their powers to circumvent politicians on that and other issues. Its supporters say the supermajority rule will prevent deep-pocketed interest groups from targeting Ohio’s foundational document, but records and other evidence show the drive is to kill the abortion bill. AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of over 90,000 midterm election voters, shows 59% of Ohio voters support abortion.

The issue’s painful, complicated, and time-consuming debate has exhausted the state’s ruling Republicans. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine even promised to approve an August election bill, even though “it’s inconsistent” with an election measure he signed in January, if lawmakers would only send it to him.

“This just needs to move forward and be over with,”

Even legislative experts struggle to follow the daily gamesmanship. A chair defying his committee? The chair was fired. after one legislator died and another went for a new job after the last election, how many House votes are required to put the 60% question to voters? (Answer: Depends.)

The August special election law included a $20 million decrease to local election board funds. For complex procedural reasons, eliminating the financing might have streamlined the bill’s House floor journey, but it may have left already-stressed local election officials without money for the extra election. After days of negotiations, two committee hearings were canceled and the bill failed.

Legislation may not be needed without money. The House and Senate resolutions putting the 60% issue on the ballot mention the Aug. 8 election. Lawmaker-initiated ballot initiatives skip the governor.

Ohio Right to Life and the Buckeye Firearms Association, two strong anti-abortion and pro-gun rights groups, have linked the convoluted web of connected votes to their election-season scorecards to pass the two initiatives. Voting “no” on either legislation jeopardizes a Republican lawmaker’s “pro-life” and “pro-gun” voting histories. Gun organizations fear a gun control constitutional amendment.

In addition, the newly established Save Our Constitution PAC is launching attack commercials against Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens and other GOP politicians who have opposed the idea. The Columbus Dispatch stated that Illinois millionaire Richard Uihlein, an heir to the Schlitz Brewing Co., gave the political action group $1.1 million. The 60% measure’s proponents have said that “out-of-state special interests” should not access Ohio’s foundational text, thus the gift raised questions among opponents.

The Ohio Libertarian Party, five Republican and Democratic former state attorneys general, and every living Ohio ex-governor oppose increasing the constitutional amendment bar. Last week, hundreds of grassroots voting rights, labor, police, church, civil rights, and community organizations marched outside the Statehouse in a nonpartisan protest. They return Wednesday.

The highest-profile supermajority threshold backer and probable 2024 U.S. Senate candidate, LaRose, thinks Wednesday is the deadline for legislative action. His spokeswoman stated state legal and constitutional procedures will apply to the August 8 election date.

Last week, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman, who favors increasing the threshold and proposed the August election, said he cannot forecast the House. “I don’t know what will happen,” he told reporters.

A European Parliament special committee (PEGA) investigating Pegasus and similar spying malware recommended that the EU establish strict regulations and punish violators.

While executing EU policies is “challenging,” the final vote was politicized.

The special committee studied Pegasus and Predator malware in Spain, Greece, Poland, Cyprus, and Hungary for 14 months.

EU parliamentarians unanimously supported a report and EU Commission action proposals.

Greek hiccup

The committee’s work has been highly politicized and controversial, with political groups bickering, member states not cooperating, national interests interfering, and centre-right EPP voting against part of the compromise text containing Greece’s recommendations at the last minute.

The EPP voted against Greece-related suggestions in the final report.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the New Democracy party (EPP) is accused of being involved in the “Greek Watergate” scandal, in which secret services under his personal control bugged opposition politicians, journalists, and businessmen. Athens is holding elections on 21 May.

Although his nephew and office head Grigoris Dimitriadis resigned after the controversy, the Greek premier stated he was ignorant of these activities.

EPP spokeswoman told EURACTIV that the proposals were “socialist propaganda ahead of the Greek elections”.

Socialist MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar claimed the EPP “tried to protect at all costs behaviours on the part of the centre-right Greek government that inevitably have to be reflected in the wording of the final report”.

“No member state was spared. Conclusions regarding France, Germany, Spain Why not draw Greece conclusions? “Because it bothers the EPP,” he continued.

The suggestions urge Athens to guarantee that the judiciary is autonomous and supported to investigate spyware misuse and that the government does not interfere with the top prosecutor and other independent agencies.

In Greece, “there are the two independent authorities, the ADAE and the data protection authorities, and they are doing their job as they are supposed to, but they are facing harassment, intimidation, verbal attacks, obstruction with every step of the way,” Renew MEP and file rapporteur Sophie In’t Veld said during a closed-door briefing on Monday.

The statement also demands for constitutional protections and parliamentary supervision of the Greek intelligence services (EYP) and a reversal of laws that put them directly under the prime minister.

Leftist MEP Stelios Kouloglou criticized Mitsotakis for comparing Greece to Hungary and Poland’s far-right regimes.

Kouloglou called him “the Balkan Viktor Orbán who exposes the country internationally”.

Finally, Greece acknowledged to exporting illicit spyware. The EU prosecutor interfered, according to EURACTIV.

Implementation: next battle

EU parliamentarians were quasi-united and harsh in their suggestions, but they recognize that the EU Commission’s reluctance to enforce present EU law will make implementation difficult.

We will keep drumming because we may vote tonight, but the situation remains. In’t Veld remarked, “We’ll be a pain forever.”

In’t Veld said that “the EU institutions are turning a blind eye” and not enforcing data protection and privacy laws, making it difficult to execute the Parliament’s proposals.

“The whole idea that its member state authorities, which themselves are violating the law [like seen in maladministration by member states during the inquiry], doesn’t fit into the Commission’s mind frame. We can pass any number of laws. “But without enforcement, those laws are worthless paper,” she remarked.

“When EU democracy is at risk, the Commission and Council cannot hide behind the fiction of national compliance anymore […] they have to implement the recommendations of Parliament without delay,” she said.

S&D MEP López Aguilar thinks the Commission will quickly propose new legislation based on the Parliament’s findings, like the whistleblower Directive did following a Parliamentary committee of inquiry on mass monitoring.

After the resignation of the interim prime minister, the political situation in Slovakia has become ambiguous. Eduard Heger urged President Zuzana aputová to remove him from his position as head of government.

Heger stated in a statement that the president had rejected his proposals to resolve the current political impasse in the country. He was in charge of the country until the upcoming elections at the end of September.

After a week of government resignations, a pro-Moscow party may take control.

Heger stated, “I promised you I would lead Slovakia to democratic elections in a stable and peaceful manner.” After the resignation of the second minister on Friday, I decided not to wait and yesterday I presented President Zuzana aputová with alternatives that I view as more stable and less hazardous than appointing a provisional government for the final few months of this election period.”

Agriculture Minister Samuel Vican resigned on Thursday following an investigation into a €1.4 million subsidy his company received. The next day, Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacer announced his departure.

Since then, the president of the country has appointed a prominent banker, Deputy Governor Ludovit Odor, to head a technocratic government.

In September, Slovakia will hold general elections, and polls indicate that voters incline toward the pro-Russia Smer-SD party, which opposes sending military aid to Ukraine.

Democracy’s greatest strength and chance for involvement and ownership is elections. Türkiye may be one of the most evolved nations in defending this power, opportunity, and right. I don’t know of another country with a 90% voting turnout. Turnout is routinely below 50% in industrialized democracies. The percentage is lower in Middle Eastern civilizations where elections are a formality.

In the former, low voter participation implies that people don’t think the election outcomes will change much, and since the system is already established, politics won’t affect their lives. This lax governance reduces public participation. This phenomenon is seen as a sign of democratic maturity in mature democracies. Is it? We’re unsure.

The appeal of populism based on the slogan “you have my word”

In the latter situation, when voter turnout is quite low in Middle Eastern regimes, we know that people don’t vote out of despondency that they won’t change anything. Voting is pointless without openness in vote counting. After all, the governing government prepares the intended outcome before the election and announces it on election day. These nations have voting turnout percentages as low as 10%.

Since 1950, Türkiye has had free and fair elections. These elections are unchangeable. Even during military coups, coup leaders have to recognize vote box results. Elections in Türkiye empower everyone, even though the politics are occasionally hindered. They’re the state’s partner, owner, and actor. Politics’ metaphysical stability might be strained in election campaigns’ negotiation climate.

However, people who cannot take power in Türkiye without coups have always been drawn to elections’ potential for citizens. Elections involve people-to-people communication. A Jacobin worldview that pursues politics against the desire of the people, even for their own advantage, is not the sole issue. Concessions can lead to populism when you discover you can’t obtain the votes you need for your ideal society.

“Whoever gives the most” auction politics makes balancing politics harder. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Meral Akşener’s pledges show no bounds. They don’t have authority or restrictions. “I give you my word” promises anything. They think endless hollow promises are OK. They won’t be held accountable for broken promises if people don’t believe or vote for them. Even if voters support these absurd promises, they are not required to keep them. Who will hold them accountable post-election? Horse fled.

Populism now hinders democratic government. Populist leaders typically appeal to the public with unrealistic and utopian promises. These promises are used to attack the current condition of affairs and promote themselves as saviors who can do the impossible. This powerful and enticing illusion may persuade even the most discerning voters.

“I give you my word” populism may backfire once in power. Politicians’ vague promises lead to incompetence.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s populist pledges pale in comparison to the AK Party’s 21 years in power, notwithstanding his ridiculousness. Current government has fulfilled several Kılıçdaroğlu commitments. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regular announcements of new projects and finished programs are huge and symbolize a future already being realized.

However, some use social media and comedy to belittle their accomplishments. To improve Türkiye, this is a huge obstacle.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a state budget “conceptual agreement” about a month after the April 1 deadline. After weeks of acrimonious talks with legislative leaders over her policy goals. The state Legislature approved all 10 budget proposals in a few more days, ending the latest budget in over a decade. Hochul declared victory anyhow.

I promised to do the hard things in my state. “I never back down from a fight,” Hochul said as she announced the arrangement. We achieved plenty. I think New Yorkers can be proud of this budget after many heated discussions.”

Hochul has been successful so far by accepting a late budget over an on-time expenditure plan with fewer ambitions. Her housing proposal was scrapped weeks ago, but she gained bail law concessions and an agreement to operate 14 new charter schools in New York City.

The governor finally obtained bail, charter school, and other concessions.

Hochul has plenty to celebrate as she navigates a difficult working relationship with two supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly, including record school funding and a free bus trial program. Political commentators cautioned that her approaches may not be wise in the long run as she adjusts to government.

Like last year, Hochul first held up negotiations to achieve rollbacks to the 2019 bail changes, underlining its importance to the governor. Hochul’s reforms were adopted over parliamentarians’ and parliamentary leaders’ opposition.

“All the insiders may have been upset that the budget was late, but I think it was a calculated decision to, even if they had a late budget, push the budget until they got wins,” said Shontell Smith, former chief of staff and counsel to the state Senate Democrats. “This was good for her.”

After finding a bail compromise, Hochul held firm on charter schools, failing to lift the regional cap for New York City that would have allowed 100 charters but winning up to 14 new schools in the city by reissuing zombie charters from schools that closed or never opened.

Hochul’s budget discussions differed from those of her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, who took satisfaction in delivering “timely” budgets after decades of state politicians submitting budgets months late. Hochul, unlike Cuomo, came office with supermajorities in both chambers.

Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said supermajorities in 2019 drained Cuomo. “It’s hard—she’s using her levers of power—but if the benefits outweigh the risks, why not keep doing it?” He said that previous Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver delayed the budget until July to gain rent law concessions.

Hochul appears to be profiting from her late budget gambits

“She certainly came out of it with an enormous amount of money to spread around the state, not just to advance her own priorities but to meet the needs – political or otherwise – of community leaders from Brookhaven to Buffalo,” said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies. However, Hochul is “a political work in progress.”

Basil Smikle, the former Democratic Party executive director under two governors, concurred. “In this budget negotiation, she seemed like she was on the defensive, but that she was able to get some victories,” he added.

“Going forward, she needs to articulate more of a longer-term vision for what she wants and really find specific items she can highlight to say—similarly as Cuomo did—that there’s leadership coming out of Albany.” Even if some of Hochul’s budget discussions didn’t go as planned, her second budget and first year as governor were net wins. “At worst, it’s still unclear how shrewd a negotiator is and what her ultimate priorities are,” Levy added.

After the state Senate rejected her first state Court of Appeals chief judge nomination, Hochul needed budget wins this year. The Judiciary Committee voted against sending Hector LaSalle to the floor, a first. When the chamber ultimately placed him before all its members, Democrats rejected him, forcing Hochul to choose another nominee, whom the state Senate later confirmed.

After presenting the budget settlement, the governor disputed that the chief judge conflict hurt her power in Albany. Hochul remarked, “I will never shy away from a fight,” while praising the budget. “You’re not always going to win… but the state requires a leader who’s not afraid to get knocked down because I always get back up.”

Hochul, in her opinion, will have a “more defined leadership style”

Political commentators cautioned Hochul that depending on late budgets to fulfill her aims may not succeed. Smith claimed this method worked well this year. “I don’t know if she should use this strategy in future years.” She believes Hochul’s “leadership style will be more defined” so she doesn’t have to exploit late budgets as her main negotiating point.

Given next year’s state legislative, congressional, and presidential elections, Hochul’s approach may be telling. Democrats want to strengthen their numbers after losing several House seats and control of the House in critical regions. Horner predicted that someone will claim Albany can’t organize.

Although Hochul does not face reelection until 2026, vulnerable Democratic lawmakers returning before voters for a third year in a row with a late budget may feed Republican assaults, which have been successful on Long Island and in portions of the Hudson Valley. When Hochul runs again, late expenditure plans may hurt her. Smikle said she must demonstrate that the Legislature is implementing her objectives.

Not everyone thinks sticking to the approach will hurt her. Levy warned against late budgets. “But if it’s a choice between being attacked for missing a deadline that most people don’t understand and delivering major on major political promises that people really care deeply that you keep, I think any politician will choose the latter.” He suggested that a state credit rating drop or a severe effect on school budgets and nonprofit financing may swing the political balances.

Hochul says the late budget benefits her. “When New Yorkers look back, they don’t care so much about the time elements involved because that time element gave me the necessary time to really get signature bills and ideas over the finish line,” she told reporters soon before lawmakers passed the budget. Her victory lap began with bail reform reforms.

Senator Joe Biden served 270 years. He’s now 20 years older than Valerie. Biden also likes “Jimmy” Madison, the fourth US president.

All jokes aside, 80-year-old Biden will tell you he is near the end of his career. He’s done this forever. Over those years, he’s gained “hell of a lot of wisdom,” justifying a second term.

As Biden, the oldest US president, campaigns for reelection, he is increasingly pondering openly about his late age, cracking self-deprecating jokes and presenting his decades in public life as a positive to convince voters his age is an advantage rather than a weakness.

He’s claiming it.

In January, Biden spoke at Ebenezer Sunday service, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was co-pastor. You’re 136. I look like it but haven’t.”

The octogenarian president’s age statements can be serious, integrated into bigger remarks, and utilized to emphasize a point.

Last month, Biden told the Irish parliament, “And I’m at the end of my career, not the beginning,” adding that he has never been more hopeful.

“The only thing I bring to this career after my age—as you can see how old I am—is a little bit of wisdom,” Biden told the applauding throng. I have more experience than any American president. It doesn’t improve me, but it limits my excuses.”

Biden typically speaks off-the-cuff, wanting to make the audience laugh by poking fun at himself, when surrounded by supporters, whether Democratic politicians or union members. Biden joked about his age during the April 29 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

In April, Biden addressed the International Union of Operating Engineers’ machine operators and engineers in Accokeek, Md., “You guys were founded 122 years ago – that’s not when I got endorsed.” At a Black History Month reception, Biden mentioned “my career of 280 years here” and said, “I wasn’t there… no matter what the press says,” at an Air Force event.

Whether purposeful or genuine, it recalls Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign approach of deflecting concerns about his age, then 73. Reagan promised not to “exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience” in a debate against 56-year-old Walter Mondale.

Biden “does exactly what he should.” “He’s embracing it, he’s having fun with it, he’s doing exactly what Ronald Reagan did—injecting humor and self-deprecation into it,” said Michael LaRosa, a former press secretary for first lady Jill Biden who worked on the president’s 2020 campaign. “Everyone gets the joke by saying the quiet part out loud. He’s honest about his age. That’s a candidate’s most crucial trait.”

A general election rival nearly as elderly as the president might likewise neutralize the age issue. According to certain surveys, Trump, the top Republican contender, is 76 years old, yet people seem less concerned about his age and sharpness than Biden. Trump claims the issue is Biden’s mental sharpness, not age.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, failing to get headway in the still-forming GOP primary field, has repeatedly focused on Biden’s age, even suggesting he may not live to the end of his second term at 86.

After his February physical exam

The public doubts Biden’s abilities. According to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive poll of the 2022 electorate, 57% of voters in last year’s midterm elections did not think Biden “has the mental capability to serve effectively as president.” 41% said Biden did.

9 in 10 Republicans and 2 in 10 Democrats said Biden is mentally unfit to be president. 27 percent of Democrats under 45 said Biden was mentally unable, compared to 13 percent of older Democrats.

In an April survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 78% of Democrats approved of Biden’s job performance, but only 47% wanted him to run again. The president’s age was cited by survey respondents.

Biden’s staff has downplayed such worries. His reelection campaign will likely emphasize his successes and Biden’s with-age-comes-experience argument to address age issues.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said President Biden’s decades of expertise support his reelection. “I think if he can balance the occasional self-deprecating joke with showing the kind of agility, engagement, casual approach to this issue that he did at the correspondents’ dinner, in the State of the Union, and in meetings with small groups of senators in public and private, I think that’s an asset.”

In a recent MSNBC interview this week, Biden again rejected age concerns, saying, “I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people.”

Biden’s aides also emphasize that his age did not hamper his 2020 candidacy. In that year’s Democratic presidential race, Julian Castro and former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan made veiled comments to Biden’s age and mental capacity, but other contenders ignored them. Sanders is older than Biden.

After announcing his reelection, Biden said he took a “hard look” at his age, which voters may consider.

I can’t predict my age. Last month, he remarked, “It doesn’t register with me.” The only thing I can say is that people will witness a race and evaluate whether I have it or not.