As the 2024 presidential election approaches, America is faced with the very probable possibility of a 2020 rematch. Democratic polls show Joe Biden in the lead, while Republican polls show the same for Donald Trump. Such a predicament comes with a myriad of issues for the country, and for our two major political parties.
Both candidates are simply too unpopular for the position of president. The President of the United States should be someone that Americans approve of, but that seems to be less of the norm than it has previously been. According to a Gallup poll, Donald Trump’s average approval rating was 41.1%. Gallup gives this statistic for every president since Harry Truman, who took office in 1945, and Trump’s average approval rating is the worst. Truman has the second lowest (excluding Joe Biden) average approval rating at 45.4%, which is still over four percent higher than Trump. The numbers clearly show that Trump is statistically the least popular president in the modern history of the United States.
When it comes to Joe Biden, he has a slightly better approval rating than his competitor, but still has the second lowest average approval rating in modern United States history. According to Gallup, his “term average to date” is 43%, with his “last job approval rating” being 39%. The last two presidents we have had have been the least popular presidents we have ever seen. Even the scandal-ridden Richard Nixon had a higher average approval rating than either of these candidates.
What makes matters worse is that both candidates are problematic, even without the popularity issue. According to ABC, “Biden is the oldest commander-in-chief in U.S. history” and “…if re-elected, he will be 82 at the start of his second term and 86 when it ends.” This is something many people are concerned about. For reference, the Centers for Disease Control lists the “life expectancy at birth” for males at 73.5 years. This is an issue, both because of the very real possibility that Joe Biden’s age could affect his job, but also because there is danger in the perception among voters that he is unable to do his job. Even if his age is not a real issue, it can still make Americans lose confidence in his ability to lead. Donald Trump also has his issues, such as the myriad of legal issues he is facing. This goes without saying, but this is not an attractive trait in a prospective president.
There would be hope to resolve this issue, had either of these candidates had strong vice presidents who could run in their place, and gain the popularity of their party and the American people. Historically, many vice presidents have run for president. This includes Joe Biden, Al Gore, George H.W. Bush, Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey. A person doesn’t have to have been a vice president to be a strong presidential candidate, but having the role certainly gives someone the national exposure that can help.
Our current vice president, Kamala Harris, currently has an approval rating of 37.5% of Americans, and former vice president Mike Pence has a favorability rating of 28.9%. From a nonstatistical view, another way to look at this is to see that the Democratic Party has more confidence in Biden’s ability to win the election than Kamala Harris even though 69% of Democrats believe the incumbent is too old to run again. If Biden had a popular vice president, it would make sense for them to run in his place. On the other side of the aisle, Mike Pence actually ran for president, and ended up dropping out of the race, showing his own lack of popularity.
The United States is approaching an election with two wildly unpopular and overall bad candidates. There were a lot of events that led to this, but one of the reasons I feel this happened is because both of the last two vice presidents chosen have not been people capable of winning the presidency on their own. This normally isn’t a necessity, but when the last two American presidents were the least popular, it certainly would have helped. When presidential candidates are choosing their running mates, they need to make sure that they can see that person as the future Commander in Chief. They should be a strong and popular leader, something that the last few vice presidents quite simply have not lived up to. We need more presidential candidates who are both viable and popular, and that is something the country lacks.