Dread factor affecting both sides of the political aisle in runup to 2024 election

NEWS AND OPINION:

Voters are not looking forward to the 2024 presidential election. No, really. There are numbers revealing this mounting response to the big bout — this time from a Fox News poll of registered voters.

It asked: “If the 2024 presidential election is a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, will you look forward to it or dread it?”

Exactly half of the respondents overall — 50% — said they would dread an electoral bout between the former president and the current president.

Some groups felt more dread than others, however.

Here’s the partisan breakdown: 61% of independents, 60% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans would dread the Trump vs. Biden match, along with 56% of women and 43% of men.

Yes, but who would dread the match the most? That would be Democratic women, the poll found — at 70%.

There are those who are actually looking forward to the presidential election, however. Who leads the pack? The poll found that “very conservative” voters led the way in this sentiment: 69% are looking forward to the Trump vs. Biden match. Those voters who supported and voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 followed at 64%, then comes Republican primary voters at 62% plus conservatives and Republicans — both at 60%.

This “dread” has already been noticed, by the way. The Hill offered an opinion piece titled “Five Reasons to Dread the 2024 Election,” all the way back on March 23. We will likely be seeing more election dread updates as time passes.

See the Poll du Jour at column’s end for more numbers and for the poll particulars.

ALL IN THE GENES

Yes, he turns 78 on his next birthday on June 14. But former President Donald Trump does not appear too concerned about his age even if he could reach and cross the threshold of age 80 if he was reelected.

“My father lived much longer than that,” Mr. Trump told Kristen Welker, who made her debut as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” in the interview, which aired Sunday.

Mr. Trump pointed out that his father Frederick Christ Trump Sr. lived to be 93, while his mother Mary Anne Trump reached the age of 88.

“So genetically, that’s a good thing,” Mr. Trump noted.

For those who wonder, President Biden was 78 when he took the oath of office as the 46th president.

“This earned him the spot as the oldest president in U.S. history,” noted a written analysis of this phenomenon by the History Channel, which also noted that President Ronald Reagan was 77 years and 349 days old at the completion of his second term in January 1989.

And Mr. Trump? “Born June 14, 1946, Trump was 70 when he won an upset victory in the Electoral College over Hillary Clinton. By January 2021, the 45th President was 74 years and 200 days old,” the History Channel said.

THE THIRD PARTY OPTION

There are still third political parties such as the Libertarian Party and Green Party out there, and they remain active despite winning a smaller percentage of votes in major elections.

Some wonder, however, whether their time has come.

“While the two-party system has been the standard in the U.S. government, third parties have often challenged this status quo and now advocate for it to be added to election ballots permanently. Those who agree say third parties offer non-partisan solutions and are more representative of ideologies, unlike the polarized partisanship present now. Those who disagree say the two-party system fosters stability and simplifies voting decisions,” notes Open to Debate.

The organization describes itself as “the nation’s only nonpartisan, debate-driven media organization dedicated to bringing multiple viewpoints together for a constructive, balanced, respectful exchange of ideas.”

Its next big bout is titled “Does America Need A Third Party?”

Andrew Yang, founder of the Forward Party and a former Democratic presidential primary candidate, argues in favor of the idea. Daniel DiSalvo, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a political science professor at City College of New York-CUNY, opposes it. Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan is the moderator for the encounter.

Curious? The 53-minute event was released Friday and will be featured on multiple public radio stations in the coming days — and is now available as an Apple podcast. Helpful information can be found at OpentoDebate.org.

IVY-COVERED HALLS

The days of the epic term paper may be on the wane.

“Public education has failed to prepare incoming college students how to write,” advises a headline from CampusReform.org, a news site written entirely by college students.

“In a desperate attempt to catch high school graduates up to speed, many universities are providing remedial writing classes to college students. About 68% of those starting at two-year public institutions and 40% of students enrolled in public four-year universities took at least one remedial writing class between 2003 to 2009,” wrote William Biagini, a student at Florida State University.

But wait, there’s more.

“Universities are not the only institutions that have to bear the cost of a failed K-12 public education system. According to a study from CollegeBoard, and as reported by Inc., businesses are spending nearly $3.1 billion every year on remedial writing training for employees,” Mr. Biagini said.

“It appears that even a college degree doesn’t save businesses from the effects of poor writing skills,” the aforementioned study noted.

POLL DU JOUR

• 40% of registered U.S. voters say they will vote in the Republican presidential primary or caucus in their state in 2024.

• 85% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

• 40% overall would vote in the Democratic primary in their state in 2024.

• 3% of Republicans, 17% of independents and 87% of Democrats agree.

• 17% will not vote in either primary.

• 10% of Republicans, 58% of independents and 9% of Democrats agree.

• 3% are not sure or don’t know.

• 2% of Republicans, 7% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

SOURCE: A Fox News poll of 1,012 registered U.S. voters conducted Sept. 9-12.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.