When faced with this kind of scenario, it's in the best interest of the challenging party (the Democrats, in this case) to nominate a hapless loser who has been in Washington for 40+ years and never accomplished anything of any substance.
This allows a challenger with no future in Washington to get his ass kicked without jeopardizing the future presidential aspirations of other younger members of his own party.
Good analogy. And Dole was actually 5 years younger in ‘96 than Biden is now.
File that post under: funny but true.