One of the main characteristics of the US presidential campaign that has already begun is that it is less a referendum on the person seeking re-election than on the personality of the person trying to return to the White House.
Formally, the parties have not yet chosen candidates. In fact they are already there, and many do not like it.
Democrat Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election, will turn 81 in November and be the oldest president in United States history.
Biden is not exactly a popular President. His economic policies are subject to debate despite the fact that, according to the latest signs, they have avoided a recession, and the Republican right has questioned his honesty, while trying to link him to the scandals surrounding his son Hunter Biden.
And if we add concerns about the age and health of the president, who suffers from many stumbles and frequent speech errors, the outlook is not as good as Biden and his followers would like.
The strange thing is that the same people who accused Biden of possible corruption and abuse of office have no qualms about supporting former President Donald Trump, who has not distanced himself from his real estate companies and has been subject to several lawsuits in an attempt to change the results. in the 2020 election and even what he did, or failed to do, when a mob of his followers stormed the Capitol building to try to prevent Congress from certifying the election.
Trump’s personality and actions dominate the Republican Party, to the point that in the polls he has almost 50% approval against the top 20 for the closest of his eight competitors.
According to CNN, Trump and Biden seem to be tied in terms of negative views. 90% of Democrats hate Trump, and a similar percentage of Republicans hate Biden.
Political analysts consider that in general, a third of Americans call themselves Republicans, a third are Democrats and the rest are independent, although there is a conservative tendency. The percentages would have been different, with both parties decreasing and independents increasing.
But at the same time, there is speculation about the electoral impact of the accusations against Trump. Most Americans believe that the former president committed illegal acts.
The axis of Trump’s campaign seems to be on the parallel issues of immigration, or the “invasion” as he calls it, drug trafficking and, in particular, the transfer of fentanyl, and what he will do as president to punish his enemies, including the government. bureaucracy.
But it is also remembered that Trump’s first Presidency was very chaotic, focused on his personal positions and the rise of the extreme right that he developed.
In other words, Americans will vote for Trump or against him.
