紐時賞析／年屆八旬 拜登挑戰美國總統年齡界限

At 79, Biden Is Testing the Boundaries of Age and the Presidency

年屆八旬 拜登挑戰美國總統年齡界限

Biden, at 79, Shows Signs of Age And Aides Fret About His Image.

79歲的拜登出現了衰老跡象，幕僚們為他的形象而煩惱。

As Biden insists he plans to run for a second term, his age has increasingly become an uncomfortable issue for him, his team and his party.

美國總統拜登堅稱打算爭取第二任期之際，他的年紀對他、他的團隊和政黨愈來愈是個令人不自在的議題。

Just a year and a half into his first term, Biden is already more than a year older than Ronald Reagan was at the end of two terms. If he mounts another campaign in 2024, Biden would be asking the country to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure, testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency. Polls show many Americans consider Biden too old, and some Democratic strategists do not think he should run again.

拜登第一任期才過一年半，他已經比故總統雷根做滿兩任時還要老一歲多。如果拜登2024年競選連任，就是在要求美國選出一名卸任時已86歲的領袖，不啻測試年齡與總統職務的外圍界線。民調顯示，許多美國人認為拜登太老，一些民主黨策士認為他不應競選連任。

His energy level, while impressive for a man of his age, is not what it was, and some aides quietly watch out for him. He often shuffles when he walks, and aides worry he will trip on a wire. He stumbles over words during public events, and they hold their breath to see if he makes it to the end without a gaffe.

就拜登這個年紀的男性而言，拜登的精力令人印象深刻，但畢竟不如以往，一些幕僚暗暗關切他。他常拖著腳走路，幕僚擔心他絆倒。他在公開活動致詞時結結巴巴，幕僚屏息看著他能否不失言講到最後。

Biden has said questions about his fitness are reasonable to ask even as he reassures Americans that he is in good shape. Even for some admirers, though, the question is whether that will last six more years.

拜登說過，質疑他的健康合情合理，同時他向國人保證自己身體很好。不過即使是部分仰慕者也想問，他能否再維持健康六年。

“I do feel it’s inappropriate to seek that office after you’re 80 or in your 80s,” said David Gergen, a top adviser to four presidents. “I have just turned 80, and I have found over the last two or three years I think it would have been unwise for me to try to run any organization. You’re not quite as sharp as you once were.”

曾任美國四位總統首席顧問的葛根說：「我確實覺得80歲以上的人不適合選總統。我剛滿80歲，我發現過去兩三年我不適合管理任何組織。因為你不像以前敏銳。」

Everyone ages differently, of course, and some experts put Biden in a category of “superagers” who remain unusually fit as they advance in years.

當然，每個人老化的速度不同，部分專家把拜登歸類為「超級老人」，也就是雖然年紀漸長但仍然非常健康的人。

“Right now, there’s no evidence that the age of Biden should matter one ounce,” said S. Jay Olshansky, a longevity specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago who studied the candidates’ ages in 2020. “If people don’t like his policies, they don’t like what he says, that’s fine, they can vote for someone else. But it’s got nothing to do with how old he is.”

曾研究2020年美國總統大選候選人年紀的芝加哥伊利諾大學長壽專家奧爾尚斯基說：「現在並無證據顯示，拜登的年齡有絲毫重要性。如果人們不喜歡他的政策，就不會喜歡他說的話，那也很好，他們可以投票選擇其他人。不過這跟拜登多老無關。」

Still, Olshansky said it was legitimate to wonder if that would remain so at 86. “That’s the right question to be asking,” he said. “You can’t sugarcoat aging. Things go wrong as we get older, and the risks rise the older we get.”

不過，奧爾尚斯基說，懷疑拜登86歲能否保持健康不無道理。他說：「那是該問的問題。你不能掩飾老化。當我們變老時，會有一些事出問題，我們愈老，風險就愈高。」

文／Peter Baker 譯／李京倫