As the summer season of 2024 enters full swing, less than 5 calendar months separate the people of the United States with the upcoming General Federal presidential and Congressional elections this November. The nation’s political climate remains volatile. People across the nation appear divided, polarized and tense as they prepare for the electoral contests. Presidentially, the upcoming contest appears to be a battle between the 46th president and incumbent Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the former 45th commander-in-chief. Both men are highly disapproved of by many voters. In a recent publication by the conservative media outlet Newsmax, Biden was projected to be carrying a 37% approval rating, a historic low, while Trump was only approved of favorably by some 41% of respondents.
Many people are rejecting both Trump and Biden, with large percentages of voters claiming that they will not support either candidate. As both political parties continue to become tribalized, and the left and right move further away from the center, political discourse continues to break down. In the Republican primary, Donald Trump recently endorsed three candidates in the states of South Carolina, Utah, and Colorado. All three of these candidates were defeated in a republican primary, showing that Trump’s far right base is sometimes not enough to carry candidates who closely associate themselves with his brand of politics to victory.
The main rule of politics is knowing your base; many Republicans across the country are moderate, or conservatives who simply dislike Trump’s agenda. In South Carolina, Mark Burns narrowly lost a primary contest by only 2%. In Colorado, a Trump backed candidate named Dave Williams was crushed. In the Utah Senatorial Primary, another Trump candidate named Trent Staggs lost a bid to replace the retiring Mitt Romney. It is worth noting that in some cases, winning candidates were endorsed by more moderate, establishment Republican figures like speaker Mike Johnson or by the state governors of their home region.
