Changes are necessary for the Democratic Party for re-election
As the 2024 US presidential election nears, what must the Democratic Party do to avoid another Trump presidency?
Like it or not, Donald Trump is seemingly poised to win the 2024 US presidential election later this year. President Joe Biden grows increasingly more unpopular, and according to the latest Ipsos poll, his approval rating currently sits at a lowly 38 per cent. The Democratic Party has two choices if they want a shot at winning the upcoming election: beg the Supreme Court to keep Trump off the ballot, or make changes.
On the official White House website, the Biden-Harris administration claims that its main priorities are to “control the Covid-19 pandemic, provide economic relief, tackle climate change, and advance racial and equity rights, as well as immediate actions to reform our immigration system and restore America’s standing in the world.” This sweeping ramble of a checklist is meant to appeal to the variety of concerns that affect liberal voters.
But Democratic Party voters are divided in what they want. According to a February 2024 report from Reuters, Democrats consider the economy, inequality, the environment, abortion issues, and crime as the most important issues to tackle, followed by immigration, the healthcare system, and the war.
In the same Reuters report, immigration and the economy accounted for 65 per cent of the primary concerns for Republican voters. Republican anxiety is neatly condensed between two key issues. As such, Trump can keep reiterating the same ideas during his campaign, knowing it’ll appeal to most of his party. Biden, on the other hand, is forced to diversify his campaign to sympathize with every nook and cranny of his voter base.
The fractured interests between Democratic voters cause challenges for policymakers. Legislature meant to satisfy each corner of their party often lacks the general support needed to pass through the House and Senate.
In November 2023, the Democratic Party’s Appropriations Committee released a statement slamming House Republicans for passing a bill that would slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 39 per cent. The legislation “hinders the U.S. response to the Climate Crisis and fails to address the growing number and severity of extreme weather events by cutting efforts to reduce carbon emissions and community resiliency programs,” the report states.
In 2022, overturning of Roe v. Wade also sparked national protests after the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court ruled against the constitutional right to abortion. Democratic voters in red states were left feeling disenfranchised by their government. President Biden himself has openly stated that he’s “not big on abortion,” and activists say that “he could be doing more.”
Democrats don’t want President Biden to run in the next election, according to a December 2023 CBS News poll. The poll reported that 39 per cent of Democratic voters don’t believe he should run in the next election due to his age.
President Biden’s fitness has been called into question as of late. Last week, he fiercely responded to reporters who questioned him about his mental dexterity, even following a report that suggested he struggled to remember when he was vice president, or when his son died. A few minutes later, President Biden confused the Mexican and Egyptian presidents.
Looming age concerns and intense criticism from liberal Democratic voters seem to plague President Biden’s re-election campaign. But what else can the Democratic Party do to avoid a Trump election? Would a different candidate be the solution? Probably not.
If President Biden and the Democrats have one advantage, it’s the presidential incumbency. In the last 100 years, only five US incumbent presidents have lost re-election. Trump was the first president to fail at becoming re-elected since 1992.
President Biden needs to take a page out of the Republican playbook and try to beat Trump at his own game. It’s not enough to say what he’s done. Biden needs to ditch the loving grandpa act. He needs to get mean. He needs to highlight what Trump wouldn’t do.
Trump is the worst president for an environmentally sustainable future. Trump is the worst president for the funding of public health. Trump is the worst president for addressing inequality. Many American voters know these things, but the public doesn’t care because it has lost its faith in Biden. The Democratic Party needs to change their campaign idea. They must realize that Biden can’t win this election—but Trump can still lose it.
