Rules for the Rematch
Super Tuesday confirmed it: America is stuck with another Biden-Trump presidential race, blech. The Republican base rallied around former President Donald Trump as GOP elites held their noses; Democratic elites rallied around current President Joe Biden as the Dem base held its nose. Now we face a contest likely to be decided by the “double haters” who can’t stand either guy. Oh, joy.
One silver lining: The rerun won’t be in a weird world where everyone’s locked at home and one candidate spends the whole campaign in his basement. Maybe we can even have some debate about the actual issues.
Now both guys have been president; they’ve shown where they really stand when the rubber hits the road. That is, they can discuss the issues and point to what they’ve done — and to the results.
Polls show the voters are concerned over immigration and the border, plus the economy and the cost of living; foreign policy plainly belongs in the mix, as do cultural questions like far-left wokeness and (inevitably) abortion. Americans should focus on which candidate fares better on those.
Yes, Biden (and some actual voters) also want the “war on democracy” debated. Indeed, the prez is apparently going to use Thursday’s State of the Union to put it centerstage, asking: “Which side are you on?”
Hmm: Any American determined to vote against Trump over the Capitol riot and his election denialism is already reflected in the polls that show Biden slightly behind. Unless Trump is foolish enough to drone on yet again about “stolen election” claims, and/or indulge in martyr rhetoric about his legal travails, that debate won’t move the dial.
Plus, he can point to multiple Biden actions that threaten our constitutional order — from the student-loan giveaways (the prez even brags about how he kept it up despite a Supreme Court slapdown) to how he’s ordered non-enforcement of immigration law.
Sadly, Biden will also use “the war on democracy” as an excuse not to debate Trump one-on-one — even though ducking seems pretty not-democratic.
But the core facts remain: Two-thirds of the country thinks we’re on the wrong track, less than a quarter that things are going in the right direction; Biden’s job-rating is underwater (39% approve, 57% disapprove) and has dropped steadily ever since his Afghanistan bugout proved a disaster.
Aside from hoping for better economic news, the prez should be making the case for why his policies will produce better results, while Trump explains what he’ll do to end the pain.
The immigration/border debate should be pretty straightforward, and good luck to Biden if he sticks to his “It’s Republicans’ fault because they won’t pass that bill” line. He has time to reverse his policies — even if it implicitly admits he was wrong, he’s toast on this front if he can’t stem the migrant tide.
Fact is, voters think Trump did better on the border and the economy: If Biden can’t produce results on either front, hiding in the White House won’t help.
Which brings us to Joe’s other hope for dodging the issues: offering nonstop personal digs at The Donald in hopes Trump loses it and vents himself into trouble. We see the logic of the tactic, but not the logic of telegraphing it: The advance notice gives Trump’s advisers a big argument for pushing him to stick to the issues he’s winning on.
It’s eight long months to Election Day; that’s plenty of time for the campaigns to address every issue, even if each wants to avoid some of them.
The prez might even feel obliged to justify the way he’s imposed DEI across the entire federal government; the challenger, to stand up his claim that he can end the Ukraine war within a few days: How, except by an outright betrayal of Kyiv?
The nation is stuck with a rematch; it should insist on one that centers on the issues, not “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”