A heavy dose of criticism has been hitting President Biden in the wake of slipping poll numbers and perceived weakness alleged by Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Joe Biden at age 79 is our eldest president, three years older than Trump. Nevertheless, he talks of seeking re-election in 2024, his good health permitting. Meanwhile, Trump cites the same intention to re-capture the Oval Office in 2024.

For all the criticism and uncertainty over Biden’s age and other criticism, the state of the American economy under him so far has given him wind in his sails. The fearsome public-health pandemic shows signs of fading, thanks to his aggressive mobilization of Big Pharma in broad vaccination and distribution.

Now, suddenly, he has disclosed that a surgical American drone attack in Kabul killed Afghanistan Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, without damage to his family members. The news has given new credibility to Biden as a strong defender of our foreign policy requirements, exercised with precision coupled with admirable compassion.

At the same time, lower unemployment rates at home and slowly slipping gasoline prices fan hopes of an eventual return to pre-Trump normalcy. David Axelrod, Biden’s longtime political adviser and later chief Obama White House strategist, recently referred to Biden as a “victim” of his own high expectations.

“He’s quietly amassing a record of historic wins in infrastructure, opposition to gun violence, manufacturing, RX medical pricing, climate and energy,” Axelrod notes. “Not a New Deal, but a pretty damned improvement in a 50-50 Congress.”

Also, former president Obama has tweeted: “I’m grateful to President Biden and those in Congress, Democrat or Republican, who are willing to deliver for the American people. Progress doesn’t always happen all at once. but it does happen and this is what it looks like!”

Biden from the White House said of his Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, that while omitting some of its original provisions, it still included a set of investments that put the United States “on sounder economic footing.”

“I know it can sometimes seem like nothing gets done in Washington,” he said, in an open plea for public patience. “The work of the government can be slow, frustrating and even infuriating.” But, he went on, “We’re facing up to some of our biggest problems and we’re taking a giant step forward as a nation.”

Many Americans, however, want to know from their public servants: “What have you done for me lately?” Joe Biden is expressing his understanding of that view, with a plea for patience as he strives to demonstrate his case for a second term, beyond merely being a preferable alternative to Donald Trump.