Over the course of America’s 247 year life span, there have been some very admirable presidents. These renowned men have faced off in elections against opposing candidates with similarly commendable reputations. Sometimes, candidates are so evenly matched that the election is decided by only a few electoral college votes. From Abraham Lincoln vs. John Breckenridge to John Adams vs. Andrew Jackson, legendary battles have been fought, won, and lost.
The same can not be said about the 2023-2024 presidential race so far. The candidates feel weak compared to other years. The Democrats are stuck with ‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden running for the second time, and the Republican primaries are bound to be messy.
The most likely Republican candidate is Donald Trump, who many Americans find to be less than satisfactory. A poll by Ipsos shows that roughly 60% of the American public has an unfavorable opinion of Trump.
The Democrat’s situation is sad because Biden, their biggest hope for executive power, is losing support left and right. For example, Biden’s job approval rating is a continuously plunging 61% by Democrats, and a measly 7% by Republicans. His other approval ratings look almost the same.
America isn’t doomed yet, but the future isn’t looking as bright as it has in the past for both sides.
Here’s a closer look at why Trump and Biden may not be the best choices to lead the country in 2024.
Trouble With Trump
Recently, Donald Trump has been having some legal trouble. The most talked about of his issues is probably the January 4th, 2020 ‘insurrection’ that he allegedly instigated. The subject has been covered an almost countless number of times by pretty much every major news outlet. The unfortunate events that transpired on the 4th have essentially been branded into the minds of Americans.
There’s also the hush money case, and the classified documents case.
In total, there are about 87 felonies that Trump is being indicted for, so it’s easy to see why his reputation has fallen a little among supporters. This doesn’t mean that all of the allegations are true, but rather that constant negative media coverage can damage a former voter’s confidence. It is likely, however, that, at the very least, some of the allegations are true.
For example, there is an audio recording of Trump ‘revealing’ classified documents when he did not legally have the power to do so. If proven to be true, this might raise serious doubt in some voters’ minds about Trump’s trustworthiness.
Most people are well acquainted with Trump’s infamous ‘way with words’. He’s often straightforward and opinionated, never afraid to show his true colors. Historically, one of his favorite platforms to share thoughts on is X (formally known as Twitter). He used the site a lot and would sometimes misspell words, which contributed to the growing negative opinions that people had of him.
Despite all this, Trump remains the most popular Republican individual running for president in 2024 by a long distance. A commentary on a poll done by Reuters and Ipsos states, “61% of self-identified Republican voters said they would vote for the U.S. president in the state-by-state nominating contest to pick a challenger to Democratic President Joe Biden.”
Trump is still managing to identify with voters and will absolutely play a key part in the upcoming election.
The Joe Biden Jumble
Biden is really old. Sure, he’s only four years older than Trump, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t possess Trump’s still-sharp mind.
By now, plenty of people have seen Biden gaffe reels on YouTube. His sometimes incompetent behavior has sorely wounded his public image, but at the same time created some hilarious memes.
Jude Shull, a former Montana resident and Sentinel High School student, was asked to say what popped into his head when he heard the name Joe Biden. Shull stated, “I think I would beat him in a bike race.”
If you don’t get the reference, here you go.
Shull isn’t the only one to notice Biden’s consistent cluelessness, as 62% of Americans say that his mental fitness is a real concern.
He struggles with simple tasks like finding his way off stage after a speech and stringing understandable sentences together.
Other than his cognitive struggles, Biden has other issues among American voters, like his overall plan for running the country.
A study done by Pew Research states, “Majorities of Americans express little or no confidence in Biden on economy, immigration, foreign policy.”
Biden’s economy is probably the biggest reason that a growing number of Amemricans are unhappy with him. Total inflation has grown to an astonishing 17.1% over the course of Biden’s presidency, leaving many families struggling to survive. 61% of families have said that inflation has caused them financial hardship.
Other incidents apart from a struggling economy involve Biden’s impact on US reputation.One of the most controversial decisions took place in 2021 on February 29th and lasted until August 30th. This was the time span it took for Biden to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.
The manner in which this operation was completed wasn’t very satisfactory for many Americans and veterans. A study shows that 73% of Afghanistan veterans felt betrayed by Biden’s hasty exodus of troops. People said that Biden’s behavior in this situation showed his inability to be the commander in chief for the US.
Overall, loads of people are not happy with Biden’s performance as President.
What if Biden Doesn’t Run?
America is of the growing opinion that Joe Biden shouldn’t run at all in the 2024 election. This is mostly for all the reasons stated above. Biden said recently that he wasn’t sure that he’d be running if Trump wasn’t there to face off against.
For Democrats, this is frightening. Biden is the only real candidate in sight, and if he bows out for some reason, a new candidate will have to fill in quickly. Who this candidate will be is completely up for debate at the moment.
Some believe that it should be Kamala Harris, the current Vice President, and others would support Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California.
Harris seems like an obvious backup, already being the second in command. Newsom, however, may be the more interesting choice. Newsom recently debated Ron DeSantis on ‘Hannity’, which shows that he might have his sights set on presidential candidacy.
Some argue that Newsom would be a weak candidate, an example being the evasive performance he gave in the DeSantis debate. Whenever Hannity would ask DeSantis a tough question, Newsom would get sidetracked away from answering directly.
The debate ended up getting cut short when Newsom’s wife apparently prohibited Newsom from debating any longer during a commercial break.
As time marches ever closer to next November 8th, the Biden candidate situation will either unravel, or Biden will keep on trucking in his 2024 campaign. Whatever the outcome is, it’s sure to be a major pivotal point for the country.
