OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

President Joe Biden's re-election is not certain

2022-12-29 21:12:18Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA STEVE HERMAN
President Joe Biden's re-election is not certain
President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden, currently on winter vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, has said he will discuss with family members over the holidays to decide whether to run for a second term in 2024.

White House and Democratic Party officials say it is almost certain that Mr. Biden will run again. But will he secure the support of his party to run again?

Prince George's County in the state of Maryland is the ideal place to take the pulse of voters, as Mr. Biden won with 89% of the vote there, his highest percentage in the 2020 general election.

Only about a quarter of the area's 400,000 eligible voters typically participate in general elections. Regardless of turnout, the outcome is predictable in the general election, with Democrats all but guaranteed victory in the largest majority African-American district in the United States.

The county executive, 11 county council members, sheriff, clerk of court and over 20 legislators in the state general assembly are Democrats.

"There's not one Republican that I think would win in Prince George's County," said County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Kent Roberson.

The vice chairman of the Prince George's County Republican Central Committee agrees.

“(A Republican victory) It's not going to happen in my lifetime. I am 70 years old now. So Maryland is more heavily dominated by Democrats," Jim Wass told VOA.

That doesn't mean Republicans in the county should give up voting in the general election, Mr. Wass said.

"There will come a time when going to the elections will be important."

The age issue

What matters to many voters in both parties is that Mr. Biden, the oldest US president, would be 86 if he were to serve a second term. But in this constituency, which he won convincingly in 2016, would he be able to defeat all challengers in the primary within the party in 2024?

"I don't believe he has total unquestionable support," Mr. Roberson told VOA.

"If we look at the low popular support, I don't think it's all Republicans who feel that way, but there are Democrats as well. Regardless of how I feel about the president, I think we're also aware that there are individuals who are concerned about whether he's going to be the person to continue in office for another four years."

President Biden, according to Mr. Roberson, did what he could by leading the country "through a transition phase from President [Donald] Trump's tenure to where we are now."

Like other heavily Democratic precincts across the country, Prince George's County Democrats don't all think alike. They can be progressive, moderate, liberal or conservative. In 2016, they combined votes for Mr. Biden to win against Mr. Trump, denying the latter a second term.

"We all managed to overcome all our differences and work together. But you will also see that some of those individuals may feel that the leadership needs another candidate," Mr. Roberson said.

Many potential contenders

Incumbent presidents seeking a second term rarely face serious challenges within their own party, but President Biden's age may prevent Democrats from following suit.

Asked to rate the Democratic presidential candidates, Wass, a Republican, said Gavin Newsom, the 55-year-old governor of California, might appeal to Prince George's Democrats more than Mr. Biden.

"Someone like Gavin Newsom could fit the mindset of Prince George's Democrats," he said.

In November, Governor Newsom dismissed speculation that he would challenge Mr. Biden.

"Not only did he beat Trump once, but I think he can beat him again," Mr. Newsom told Politico magazine.

"I hope he will run. I will support him enthusiastically."

If President Biden does not run for re-election or is forced to leave the presidential race due to some health reason, Mr. Newsom is seen as a leading candidate, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is 58 years old; Senator Bernie Sanders, 81; and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 40. All three were contenders in the 2020 Democratic primary.

Mr. Wass remembers the year 1992 when Bill Clinton, then a little-known governor of Arkansas, decided to run for the Democratic nomination. At the time, political pundits predicted that New York Governor Mario Cuomo was the one to defeat Republican George HW Bush. Mr. Cuomo's campaign fell apart before it started, and it was Bill Clinton who defeated President Bush in the general election.

"Gavin Newsom has to run or he's going to miss out," Mr. Wass said, adding that for the same reason, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should enter the 2024 Republican primary race. .

"Even though former President Trump seems to have raised a lot of money and attention right now, these people should run," Mr. Wass said.

Other potential primary challengers to Mr. Trump include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Wyoming Legislator Liz Cheney (who was defeated in this year's primary (Mrs. Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney). Also among moderate Republicans are New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Gov. of Maryland, Larry Hogan.

The only president-elect in American history to lose a primary within his own party for a second term was Democrat Franklin Pierce in 1856. But the concern then was the president's policies, not his age.

President Pierce supported the preservation of slavery as the country headed toward civil war over the issue.

His party decided to nominate former Secretary of State James Buchanan in his place, who had served as Mr. Pierce's administration's ambassador to the United Kingdom and so had not been involved in the difficult debate over slavery.

Mr. Buchanan, who also opposed ending slavery, defeated two contenders in the general election from the Whig and Republican parties despite not actively campaigning, winning every state where slavery was still legal except Maryland.

Historians generally consider Presidents Pierce and Buchanan to be among America's weakest leaders./ VOA


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×