It is time for America to pass the generational torch.

In every political era, there is a time to embrace the reality that even our exalted political class is not immune to the basic physical and mental effects of aging. And though octogenarians often have plenty still to offer their communities, serving in the most demanding job in the world ain’t on the menu.

A fresh reminder of this basic fact came this week in the form of President Joe Biden’s weak, over-produced and unenthusiastic re-election announcement.  News flash: his own staff knows he cannot handle a traditional re-election rally and public multi-city tour. Generating genuinely enthusiastic crowds for a man a majority of Democrats would prefer not to run would be a tall order.

Whether he is just experiencing the natural decline in energy and focus from passing age 80 or is in the throes of mid-stage dementia, it is clear Joe Biden has no business being president much less running for another four-year term.

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From the howling public gaffes rooted to embarrassing confusion in public settings, to massive screw-ups like the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and clear neglect of border security, a diminished and increasingly incapable American president is making America weaker and emboldening our adversaries around the world.

Americans are smart, and they see the Biden decline for what it is. Recent national polling shows that 70% of Americans – including 57% of Democrats in a CNBC survey – say Biden should not run for a second term. Other reputable polls report similar numbers.

Interestingly, two-thirds of senior Americans cite Biden’s advanced age as a major factor for why they prefer he not run.

Which brings us to the near-octogenarian Donald Trump, at 76, four years Biden’s junior. Most Americans aren’t wild about The Donald Redux, either. This despite a record clearly superior to Biden’s.

Trump was a very consequential president. An overview of his four years shows a booming economy that lifted virtually every sector and demographic group in the nation sparked by low taxes, reduced regulation and robust job growth. His domestic and foreign policy record include achievements conservatives dreamed about.

I voted for Trump twice and am glad I did.

But his personal conduct in office and as he exited the presidency squandered and overshadowed his significant, and very popular, policy wins. Despite huge shortcomings by Biden and national Democrats, most observers pointed to Trump fatigue and disdain as a key factor in why the expected 2022 “red wave” fizzled.

And though he is certainly sharper and more energetic than Joe Biden, Trump’s 2024 campaign is increasingly bizarre and unhinged.

You can say a lot of things about Florida, but for Trump to use several left-wing sources to suggest that voters re-elected a governor with 59% of the vote who turned the state into a dystopian hellhole – is cuckoo and unserious.

Though Trump is doing a little better than Biden, still 61% of Americans (and 40% of Republicans) told CNBC pollsters they would prefer Trump not run.

But the fact is Biden and Trump may likely be headed to a rematch.

Is it too much to ask to have a younger president who is neither a doddering confused shuffling shell nor a near-octogenarian who is increasingly unhinged and unmoored?

Americans have embraced generational shift in the past and should again.

In 1961 a youthful and vigorous President John F. Kennedy celebrated the torch being passed to a new generation born in the 20th century as he succeeded Dwight Eisenhower (born in 1890). The country transitioned in the 1990s from the last of the World War II generation in George H. W. Bush to the first Baby Boomer president, Bill Clinton. The children of the World War II generation have been in office since.

The country should say thanks and farewell to its Boomer presidents, and say hello to Generation X.

Check out the Gen X bench:

Gov. Jared Polis is  47. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is 44. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is 55. Vice President Kamala Harris is 58. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is 57. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is 51.

The point isn’t their positions or whether one or the other makes you reach for the mute button every time they pop up on the news. The point is as folks like Biden, Trump and other octogenarians like Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell age out, there is a new generation of leaders who can steer the nation with energy – and mental acuity.

The country, and both parties, desperately need to move on from Biden and Trump. It is not a defeat of your principles or hopes for your country to recognize that these two men who have served their country deserve a rest.

And we deserve a rest from both of them.

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.