As Election Day approaches, there seems to be a familiar theme upon us. The highest polling candidates for both parties are the same individuals that we saw in the last presidential election in 2020: Joseph R. Biden and Donald J. Trump. Both candidates have had extremely low approval ratings during their times as president, so why are they the highest-scoring candidates again for this upcoming election? 

Let me explain why this has happened and why the American people do not want this trend to continue.

To give background and to understand any bias about my own beliefs, I am a registered Republican voter and someone who predominantly identifies with that party.

While the Republican party consisted of several candidates at the beginning of this race, it seemed that there was always a clear winner set in stone: Donald J. Trump. He attended none of the public debates but still swept the polls with a large majority lead over his fellow candidates. Why did this happen?

Regardless of how you view Trump, he is an individual who has an impressive amount of rhetoric to gain an audience of followers. He understands how to gain traction from a specific voter geographic, that is usually white, middle-aged voters. In 2016, looking at the majority of his votes from his win, you can see that he gained a large share of the rural votes across the board.

Even knowing this, the Republican National Committee (RNC) seemed to always have and want Trump as their final candidate again for this 2024 Presidential Election.

Now you might be wondering, why as a Republican voter would I not want Trump as our next president? There is a logical way of understanding this that benefits the Republican Party as a whole more.

Trump has an extreme amount of baggage attached to his name. Many people strongly dislike him, so much so that there is the risk of many, many protests. The main problem would be his potential inability to get anything done due to the strong hatred towards him. As a Republican, I want things to get done in support of our party’s ideals. If we have a President who is so strongly hated by one side, there is the fear that nothing can and will get done.

Let’s focus on Joseph R. Biden. He is the current President of the United States since his win in 2020. Biden’s current polling is at an all-time low because of several different factors, but there is one that sweeps the board in polling. That would be his age. He is currently 81 years old, and in numerous public appearances, there have been signs that his age and, more importantly, his cognitive decline is getting the best of him. 

It is not only his age that is the reason why democratic voters are not strongly supporting him. Surprisingly, the economy is not the biggest issue Americans have with his presidency.  It is his immigration policy, or lack thereof. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protections, there were 250,000 migrant encounters at the Southern border in December 2023. A Pew Research Poll explained that “Eight-in-ten U.S. adults say the government is doing a very or somewhat bad job dealing with the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico.” Millions of illegal immigrants have crossed the border without any kind of screening, many from countries that are our adversaries. In 2021, under 500 Chinese immigrants crossed the border and currently over 20,000 Chinese Nationals have entered the county. With the hatred terrorists have for America, even the current US Safety Department says another terrorist attack on our soil is inevitable.

His economic policy, bidenomics, which focused on the real effects of imposing that led to more government spending, borrowing and printing more money which negatively affected the inflation rate and the median household felt that. In a CBS News poll, 80% of democratic voters want a candidate that has better economic/financial experience. 

Another large problem with Biden is his foreign policy. Both democrats and republican voters are confused on his stances on issues. His foreign policy is very closely related to the Trump administration in regard to his actions in the Middle East, which strongly distresses the majority of the democratic party.  But even more significant is the question many Americans, on both sides of the aisle, ask: “Why are we protecting other countries in foreign wars, but not protecting our own country by securing the border?”  There is no country in the world that is safe without borders and strict immigration policies.  

This is why we, as American citizens and voters, do not want to have to choose between these two candidates once again. In a Reuters poll asking voters about deciding between Trump and Biden, a project manager in Washington, D.C., stated that “I hate to think that we’re constantly navigating the lesser of two evils… I honestly feel that we can do better.” 

That opinion is not foreign to many voters around the United States. Both candidates are flooded with different fundamental issues that will only harm the country more than help it. As mentioned earlier, Joseph Biden is currently 81 years old, and Donald Trump is 77 himself. For the highest-ranking official in our country, do we really want it to be someone who is extremely old in age and could die in office? 

My goal in writing this article is to try to explain why both candidates are detrimental to the future of this country. As educated voters, we must push other representatives for the United States who understand consensus and compromise. If we do not find solutions and change how we do things now, I do not see positive things in store for the country and us in the years to come.