No matter what political party you identify with, sometimes you have to sit back and say, “Are you serious?” As we get closer to the 2024 presidential election, some Americans are losing hope. Usually, you can rely on your own party to have a candidate that you want to vote for, but in this cycle, both sides have been disappointing.
Usually, the incumbent has the upper hand, but this situation is so unique, it’s keeping everyone on edge. And not in a good way. As of Oct. 15, former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, are virtually tied in the polls.
Trump has been in the spotlight this year as he is currently facing more than 90 criminal charges altogether in four different federal and state cases -— including 41 counts of felony charges — not to mention a civil case in New York. You would think this is unappealing to voters, but you would be incredibly wrong. Politico found that “as the prospect of criminal charges hung over Trump, the former president was actually increasing his national advantage over (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis.”
Even though he has almost 100 charges against him, many Republicans still say Trump is who they will vote for in the 2024 race. Trump is still the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, polling ahead of contenders like DeSantis as well as former governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and Nikki Haley of South Carolina.
As of Oct. 15, Biden has a 53% disapproval rating, with not even his own party wanting for a second term. Over half of Democrats don’t want Biden running again on the basis of his age, according to Axios. However, they also don’t want Trump as our president again.
Realistically, the two most likely candidates on the ballot in November 2024 will in fact be Trump and Biden: the two candidates most people don’t want but will be forced to choose from.
So where do voters turn?
There are other places we can look for candidates that aren’t actively being charged with crimes and aren’t octogenarians. There are more candidates than just Trump and Biden.
The Republican candidates have taken the debate stage twice, with Trump not attending either time. Part of this being because he knows he doesn’t have to — he’ll get votes anyways. But this is where we have to put our foot down. We have to look at the other candidates and give them a shot.
Very few people are doing their own research. It takes a quick Google search to see all of the candidates. There was a decrease in viewers in the last debate since Trump wasn’t there. As a result, there is a lack of education about the other Republican candidates, even though many important questions were asked during the debate.
If you support Trump’s ideas, Christie generally holds the same views as the former President. They’re both pro-life, support repealing Obamacare and disapprove of raising taxes. It’s similar to the ideals of Haley and DeSantis, other candidates that are trailing behind Trump .
If you don’t want to vote for a Republican candidate, and none of their views align with yours, there are other Democratic candidates besides Biden that many voters forget about. Writer Marianne Williamson may not be a politician, but her views align with Biden’s. She is pro-choice and pro-gun control.
There are third-party candidates as well. These includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who originally ran as a Democrat but is now running as an independent. The list of third-party candidates also features a handful of Libertarian candidates. Chase Oliver advertises himself as a “pro-gun, pro-police reform, pro-choice Libertarian” who is “armed and gay.” He appeals to both Republicans’ and Democrats’ most-valued ideals.
There are a surplus of candidates that aren’t Trump or Biden. But voters are so hooked on those two that they fail to realize there are plenty of people who share the ideals of the two frontrunners.
We need to look at other candidates. It’s essential that we are doing our research with something as important as deciding who will be the next president, or everyone will lose.
