As Biden launches re-election bid, Georgians dread rematch with Trump
Biden, Trump face low numbers in Georgia
President Joe Biden on Tuesday made his long-awaited announcement that he will be running for re-election to a second term in 2024. In a campaign video, the Democrat reiterated the main theme of his 2020 campaign: we are still in a battle for the soul of America.
The President enters the race with low approval ratings and questions surrounding his age (he will be 82 years old on inauguration day 2025). His campaign is hoping to alleviate those concerns by touting his legislative record and attacking the “MAGA Republican” agenda.
The announcement sets up a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump — a contest that most Americans, and certainly most Georgians, are already dreading before the first vote is cast.
A new NBC News national poll finds that only 6% of Americans would like to see both gentlemen run against each other again. But Trump appears to have a tighter grip on his party than Biden: 51% of Democrats do not believe that the President should run for re-election, while two-thirds of Republicans are standing behind Trump.
Here in Georgia, the two leaders are facing headwinds of their own.
Biden
Biden owes a great deal of his presidency to the Peach State. His narrow 2020 victory made him the first Democrat to win Georgia’s electoral votes since Bill Clinton in 1992. And many of his legislative accomplishments would not have been possible without the victories of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in January 2021.
But more than 2 years later, and the President is facing low numbers from Georgia voters. The most recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll found Biden’s job approval in Georgia at 35%, compared with nearly 60% who disapprove.
His low numbers can be attributed to voters from within his own party: roughly 30% of self-identified liberals disapprove of the President’s performance.
Georgia Democrats are well aware of the President’s low numbers. Sen. Warnock and the 2022 Democratic statewide ticket largely avoided campaigning with Biden.
Nevertheless, some Democrats are hopeful that Biden’s polling numbers will rebound once he has a Republican opponent. “Polling will not be accurate until after the primary, once it’s a binary choice,” said Cobb County Democratic Party chairman Erick Allen.
Allen says that he does not have any concerns about Biden’s age. “Warren Buffet is 92 and people still trust him with billions of dollars,” he said.
Trump
Following his narrow 2020 defeat, Trump launched a personal effort to reshape Republican politics in the Peach State. He particularly targeted Gov. Brian Kemp and Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger, two conservative Republicans and former allies of his who refused to side with his claims of election fraud.
His revenge tour ended with humiliating defeats for many of his candidates in the Republican primary. And Senate candidate Herschel Walker, one of the few Trump-backed candidates to win the primary, was the only statewide Republican candidate to lose the general election.
Despite this, Trump holds a commanding lead in the GOP primary. A recent AJC poll found the former President with a 20-point lead over his nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And nearly all GOP primary voters say that the say that Trump’s legal troubles should not disqualify him from seeking the presidency again.
Trump was recently indicted on dozens of felony charges in New York. And Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating the Trump campaign’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, says she expects charges to be filed this summer.
Still, the former President does not face a clear path to a comeback: “While 85% of Republican voters say they’ll back Trump if he’s the nominee, 6% say they’ll cast their ballot for a Democrat, 3% will side with a third-party candidate and 2% will skip the vote altogether.”
Some Republicans are hopeful that the party will look to other candidates. “It’s time to turn the page,” conservative radio host Martha Zoller said of Trump. Zoller said she is hesitant to make any general election predictions this far out.
What’s next?
A lot can and will change between now and the first primary election. But as of now, it appears that both parties on track to nominate individuals that the vast majority of the country does not want to run.
With both leaders facing their own unique set of challenges, it is not clear who would have the advantage heading into a general election. But nominating unpopular candidates could have unintended consequences, including a reemergence of third parties, voters skipping the presidential race or even sitting out the election altogether.
Put another way, it appears that the 2024 election will be a repudiation of the losing candidate rather than a validation of the winner.
I’m pulling for him!
Its very apparent, almost blindingly so that; Trump will be reelected - there is way too much corruption, and if Biden croaks, aint no one want Kamalala.