The next presidential election is less than a year away, and with the end of the third Republican National Debate and the first primaries only months away, it looks like the 2024 presidential election will be a close race. The Democratic Party will, of course, run incumbent president Joe Biden who, after almost three years in office, has had one of the worst poll ratings in recent memory. Some notable highlights of his administration are the disastrous pull out of Afghanistan, the COVID-19 stimulus packages and the subsequent inflation crisis, the war in Ukraine, his attempt to forgive student debt, and more recently his response to the recent attacks of Hamas and war in the Gaza Strip. Not to mention, President Biden made the greatest trade in WNBA history. Some of these situations he handled well, and others less so depending on who you ask; yet in comparison to the widespread popularity of the Obama administration’s presidential run for re-election, this should be an easy layup.
Except it isn’t. It appears that the Republican Party is more divided than ever with the front-runner and former president, Donald Trump, not appearing at any of the three national debates and polarizing many Republican voters. A recent CBS poll stated that over 61% of Republicans would vote for Donald Trump with the next candidate only having 18%. With Trump leading by a wide margin, many are calling these debates nothing more than a race for the silver medal. Most notable amoung these candidates is Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida. Other than Trump, he has the most name recognition with his ongoing fights with Disney’s so-called “woke agenda” as well as controversial anti-LGBTQ laws and pro-life laws passed in Florida being widely covered by mainstream news. With him being one of the most far right candidates, he will be competing to gain support away from Trump’s core demographic.
Next in the polls is Nikki Haley who appears to be the most moderate among the front-runners. Former governor of South Carolina and United States Ambassador to the UN, she seems to be the most credible in comparison to Biden who would be about 86 years old when he leaves office if re-elected. Although a moderate, she definitely shares many core Republican values, such as a strong military, particularly in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Likewise, she has been hard on China, especially regarding their illegal selling of fentanyl, something she has brought up in every debate thus far. However, she is the least pro-life among all of the GOP candidates with her stating that she does not intend to attempt to overturn the pro-choice state referenda recently passed, despite being anti-abortion.
Finally, we have Vivek Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old entrepreneur who has been butting heads with Nikki Haley. Furthermore, Chris Christie has been relatively quiet throughout the presidential race, except for calling out Trump for not being at any of the debates, among other topics. Both are likely to drop out after the first few primaries, if not before then.
On to the most controversial on this list with Donald Trump. Going for the rematch with Joe Biden, recent polling suggests that he would win against Biden if he gets the Republican nomination. Trump’s administration saw the reduction of spending on Medicare and Medicaid, a steady rise in GDP which many believe was spurred by Trump’s tax cuts, the withdrawal of troops from Syria, the tightening of the U.S Southern border, and his handling of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And most importantly, whether caused by him or not, there was the January 6th storming of the U.S Capital. Likewise, Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, one of which was while not in office. He now is facing indictment for several tax related crimes, as well as his involvement surrounding the Jan. 6th insurrection. Trump can be accurately summed up as being the most loved and despised president of the 21st century with him garnering fanatical support as well as many people vehemently opposed to four more years of Donald Trump’s nonsensical posts, being covered on CNN.
Now that we’ve covered all the presidential candidates, I’d like to put my two cents on the matter. Or, ten cents on the matter now due to inflation. The Republican Party has not won the popular vote since 2004, almost 20 years ago. Every student at Priory has not lived to see the majority or plurality of the United States vote for the Republican candidate. Should there be a rematch between Trump and Biden, every swing state will face the legitimate question of what was worse, the indictments and drama of Trump or four more years of the Biden Administration? But, it doesn’t have to be that way. The red states will always be red, Alabama will vote for the Republican candidate whether it’s Trump or not. Elections are determined by the handful of swing states who often have the most moderate and centrist populations. Therefore, wouldn’t the most moderate and centrist not only be the most logical choice to both win the next election and keep America from becoming more divided? The best option in which case would be Nikki Haley.
