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Opinion

Trump versus Biden - A rematch most  Americans abhor

WHAT MATTERS MOST - Atty Josephus Jimenez - The Freeman

The problem is that both Democratic Party and the GOP do not have a more winnable, more viable candidate as an option for the 2024 presidential polls, aside from President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump, respectively. The old guards of both parties are wary of these two old men who are staying too long in politics to the extent of marginalizing the younger and more dynamic candidates.

The anecdotal evidence indicates that most of the mainstream Americans aren’t itching for a rerun. The US voters are not excited nor are they ever looking forward to this rematch of two age-old political titans. A recent poll conducted by the ABC News and the Washington Post found that only 37% approve of how Biden has handled his presidency, while only 38% approve of how Trump handled his. Half of respondents say both men are too old to serve another term. While nominees often pivot to the center for the general election, “you can’t pivot younger,” warns James Carville, who ran Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. Aside from their advanced age, the two have baggage to carry. Biden is facing impeachment proceedings. Trump had been impeached twice. He is also facing multiple criminal indictments.

The newspaper reports in the US indubitably show that neither President Biden nor former president Trump has ever held a high approval rating. The NPR-Marist conducted a survey and the results indicate that 65% of the American voters do not want Biden to be elected president again. Also, 60% do not want another Trump presidency. About one in every six voters do not want either of the two to go back to the White House. This segment of voters is called the group of "double haters" as these people do hate both Biden and Trump. This number is more than four times the number who disliked Trump and Biden in 2020, during the last time face-off, which ended in a Biden victory. The big question is: If these voters do not like the two, who will they support?

Many pundits believe that while the good of the country comes before the good of any political party, the good of the party comes before the ambitions of any individual. And that should apply to Biden as well as to Trump. The Republican Party has many good potential candidates who are more acceptable, more law-abiding, and do not face multiple criminal charges. One of them is De Santis of Florida and a number of other hopefuls. The GOP has many former and incumbent governors, experienced senators, and rising members of the House who could be tapped as Republican standard bearers in 2024. The Democrats do not have a deep bench like the GOP.

As of this time, the Democratic Party is busy planning for party caucuses to select the delegates to the 2024 Democratic Party Convention. The convention shall decide on the party's official standard bearer in 2024. The presidential elections shall be held in all the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and five US territories. As of today, President Biden and his teammate Vice President Kamala Harris have the advantages of incumbents but it is not impossible that another candidate may be chosen by the party convention. The age and health of President Biden, however, poses a heavy burden on his team. Many Americans believe that they prefer a younger and more dynamic candidate.

Former president Trump is also leading among the Republican contenders. But he is facing a string of criminal charges and is carrying the stigma of what he and his loyalists did to the Capitol when they stormed the legislative building in their reckless defiance of the rule of law when they wanted to deny Biden the victory proclamation after he won the election in 2020. How can an instigator of law's violation have the moral authority to ask for another mandate from the American voters?

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