James Cross
Democrats and Republicans are simultaneously working hard to convince the American people that they’re the right choice to lead the country ahead of the 2024 election. With it now clear that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are going to be facing each other again this November, the American people are facing some difficult choices regarding the direction they want to see of the country.
Multiple Factors Around the Election
There are multiple factors that make this particular election more difficult than ones from the past. Political decisions are always impactful, of course, but for many Americans, this election feels more existential than others .
For Republicans, this feeling stems from some intense, divisive rhetoric that has largely come from the far-right faction of the conference. Issues like trans rights, crime, the border, and abortion rights have come out and starkly divided Americans on what they ideologically believe, and for Republicans, this has pushed them further away from the middle.
Chaos in the House of Representatives
This hasn’t been helped by the chaos that has been seen in the House of Representatives over the last two years. Republicans took back the house in the 2022 election, and then proceeded to have significant infighting for the first eighteen months of the congressional session. It took more than a dozen votes to finally install Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, and the challenges didn’t stop there.
One of the concessions that McCarthy made in his quest to get the Speaker’s gavel was to change the House rules to allow just one member to be able to call for a vote of no confidence in the Speaker, and bring forth a vote to oust him from the House. The fear of losing his job meant that McCarthy toed the line with the Freedom Caucus for some months, and very little got done.
McCarthy Was Ultimately Ousted, Regardless
All of that caution didn’t do much for McCarthy, though, because after compromising with Democrats on an extension of the budget bill, he was voted out of office anyway. McCarthy later went on to give up his position in Congress altogether, and it took Republicans another three weeks of chaotic infighting in order to install another Speaker of the House.
Mike Johnson, the current Speaker and a member of the Freedom Caucus, has made waves of his own as the Speaker. He has gone out of his way to disregard the complaints of the far-right conference of the House, and has done what’s necessary to do the work of Congress, including compromise with the Democrats.
Threats of Johnson Being Removed, As Well
This has led to threats of Johnson being ousted as Speaker, the same as McCarthy before him. Marjorie Taylor Greene has even filed a motion to oust Johnson for being “disloyal” to his conference, which many political analysts have said is simply another way of saying “working with the Democrats.”
The issue with the idea of ousting Johnson as Speaker is that there isn’t anyone else on standby who could feasibly take the job. It took three weeks of arguing amongst themselves for the Republican conference to settle on Johnson last fall when they were choosing a new speaker, and if he becomes the second Speaker ousted in less than a year, it’s unlikely another Republican will want to step up and take the helm.
Not Entirely the Fault of Conservatives
The divisiveness in the house and the lack of productivity on behalf of the American people has led to a great deal of discontent and criticism from the masses regarding the House of Representatives.
It’s not entirely the fault of conservatives in the house, though. A political party is only as strong as its leadership, and for better or worse, Donald Trump has secured himself the position as the de facto leader of the Republican Party, at least through this fall’s election season.
An Unstable Party Leader
Unfortunately, Trump is far from the most stable leader of a political party, or the least controversial. His presidency was marked by controversy and scandal, and her term ended spectacularly with the attack on the capitol on January 6.
Trump is also the only president to have been indicted twice during his term in office, and is also the first ex-president who has ever been charged with a crime. He is currently facing over 90 felony indictments in four different jurisdictions across the country for crimes such as falsifying business records and conspiracy to halt a federal election.
Moderate Conservatives Trying to Leave Trump Behind
In the years since Trump left office, moderate conservatives have worked to try and separate themselves from those who still support Trump. Many conservatives seem to be looking to the future of the party, and see Trump as a clear symbol of the past.
Trump’s supporters are a very loud minority, though, and many Americans believe that Trumpers are the majority of the party, rather than the radical few. In spite of efforts on the part of many mainstream republicans to move past Trump, the party seems to be stuck with him as he runs for president of the United States for a third time.
Crafting Messaging Against Trump
Democrats have accepted their challenge in the form of Donald Trump, and have been crafting various campaign messages to try and help the American people understand why Donald Trump is so dangerous, and why a third term on his part would be so bad for America.
Biden himself has even recently pushed that message in an interview that aired on Univision. Biden was asked by Enrique Acevedo what he believes “constitutes the primary threat to freedom and democracy” in the United States right now, and Biden didn’t hold back.
Donald Trump is the Primary Threat
“Donald Trump,” he said. “Seriously.” He went on to point out Trump’s use of authoritarian rhetoric, his support of January 6 insurrectionists, and other derogatory comments that the former president has made about minority populations.
Biden pointed out that Trump “uses phrases like, ‘if you’re going to eviscerate the Constitution, he’s gonna be a director on day one.”
Biden Finishing His Statement
“The idea that he would sit…off the Oval Office and watch for hours the attack on the Capitol, and the destruction and the mayhem and people were killed, the police officers who died, and call them political heroes, to call them patriots, and say that if he gets elected he’s going to free them all, because they’re being held illegally?” he said, regarding the January 6 insurrectionists.
“I can’t think of any other time in my lifetime, in history that’s occurred, that you’ve had somebody who’s had this kind of attitude,” said Biden. “He says he’s going to be a dictator? No one doesn’t believe him.”
Following Plans for Project 2025
Biden’s comments come in the wake of plans that have been released by The Heritage Foundation over the past six months, regarding a plan called Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a plan to massively restructure the executive branch should a Republican – namely Trump – win the presidency this fall. The plan starts with firing a significant number of career bureaucrats who have opposed Trump in the past, and installing conservative Trump loyalists to help push his agenda through.
Installing Trump Loyalists in Office
Opponents to Project 2025 have pointed to the neo-fascist leanings of the plan, noting that it essentially installs Trump as a dictator of the American government from day one. It allows him to use the military aggressively against the American people, and attempts to create a government which would push through his agenda without any of the checks and balances that are afforded by the Constitution.
All of these are important factors to understand when listening to Biden discuss the danger of Trump. Many people, liberals and conservatives alike, believe that if Trump gets another term in office, there won’t be another free election in our lifetime, making this election particularly existential.
An Existential Election About Democracy
Democrats and Republicans alike are slowly growing more and more intense in their political fervor as the months go on approaching the election. Democrats see this as the election of Democracy, while Republicans believe the same for very different reasons.
Politicians have been doing an admirable job selling the direness of the upcoming election, and it’s messaging that both Trump and Biden have embraced as well. Everyone is on edge regarding November, and Americans need to get on board to ensure their voices are heard.
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