Its Trump Vs Biden once again
US President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump successfully obtained the delegates required to secure their respective parties’ presidential nominations on Tuesday, securing a rematch in the general election in November. This is the moment that the men and their campaigns have long been waiting for. As usual for a sitting president, Biden faced only token opposition in the Democratic primary, while Trump had been his party’s overwhelming front-runner for months.
The likelihood of their November collision increased after Trump’s commanding victory in Iowa in January. With his win, he eliminated all but one of his main Republican competitors and set himself up for easy nomination by his party. Nikki Haley, his final primary opponent, withdrew from the race last week, further unclogging a path that was already remarkably clear of barriers for a candidate with significant legal issues.
After predicting that Biden would win in Georgia, he was named the presumed Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Trump was named the presumed Republican nominee following his dominance in the GOP contests in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington. Subsequently, Trump won the Hawaii Republican Caucuses. Trump secured the 1,215 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination, while Biden needed 1,968 delegates to win the nomination.
The results on Tuesday paved the way for the first presidential rematch in 68 years and one of the longest campaigns in modern American history in the 2024 general election, which will last just under eight months. The last presidential rematch took place in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower triumphed over his Democratic opponent of four years earlier, Adlai Stevenson.
Already, Trump and Biden had shifted their focus away from the primaries. In a statement, Biden said he was honoured that Democratic voters “have put their faith in me once again to lead our party – and our country – in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.” In a video posted on social media, Trump called Tuesday a “great day of victory,” but said it was immediately time to focus on defeating Biden in Nov.
It won’t be until his party’s conventions this summer that either man is officially chosen. However, Biden has already made use of the DNC’s political and financial infrastructure. Additionally, the Trump campaign effectively took control of the Republican National Committee last week, and on Monday, it reorganized the party’s operations by imposing mass layoffs.
Even after losing in 2020 and trying unsuccessfully to reverse it, Trump maintained his hold on the party and his conservative base, as evidenced by his ability to secure the Republican nomination relatively quickly. He has also been charged with 91 felonies in four separate criminal cases. In a similar vein, Biden easily won every race he entered and encountered little resistance on his way to the nomination. The political scion and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew from the Democratic primary to run as an independent.
Given that the 2020 election was decided by small margins in a small number of states, the men’s strength in their primaries may conceal weaknesses in their coalitions that could cause them problems in November. In certain regions, Trump’s performance was still significantly lower among suburban voters and those who consider themselves independents or moderates. Voters have questioned Biden’s age and track record despite improving economic indicators.
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