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The general election is effectively underway, with Trump and Biden in a fierce battle over issues such as immigration, the economy, abortion, and each other’s suitability for the presidency. Biden’s State of the Union address last week appeared to be the start of his campaign, as he sought to reassure voters about his age and energize parts of a reluctant 2024 Democratic coalition. The Trump campaign took control of the Republican National Committee this week and removed the president from office. Dozens of staff worked as a single operation, aiming to keep up with Biden’s fundraising efforts.
Biden has attacked Trump’s anti-abortion record and disparaged many of America’s commitments abroad, saying Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election poses a unique threat to American democracy. It is claimed that “Donald Trump is waging a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retaliation that threatens the very ideals of America,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday after winning his nomination.
Trump is capitalizing on voter disapproval of Biden and his handling of the economy and the southern border, and is drawing Republican support as he prepares for his first trial in several pending criminal cases. However, there is a possibility that it may give a stumbling block to unstable voters. “Our country is failing. … We’re going to turn it around,” President Trump said in a video posted to social media late Tuesday.
General elections typically draw a much wider range of voters than primaries, complicating efforts to draw lessons from Tuesday’s November results. But Saturday’s voting results in Georgia, a key battleground state where both candidates campaigned, provided clues about the political strengths and weaknesses of Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who withdrew from last week’s Republican primary, closed in on Trump in several Atlanta-area counties where Democrats had big advantages in 2020, but much of her support That’s what we got by Tuesday. An estimated 78% of the statewide votes were counted as of Tuesday night, but Haley had just 5% support among voters on Election Day, compared to just 5% among those who voted early. It was 21%.
Biden needed to win 1,968 delegates at this summer’s Democratic convention, while Trump needed to win 1,215 delegates at the Republican National Convention to secure the nomination. Last week on Super Tuesday, 15 states voted at once and the majority of delegates were elected.
After primary elections that attracted candidates from all over the country, including Iowa, South Carolina, and California, the general election is expected to be held primarily in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, with the addition of North Carolina. Biden won six of those states in 2020, but lost North Carolina by a narrow margin to Trump. But recent polls show Trump leading nationally and in many battleground states, even as Biden faces low approval ratings.
“Biden’s biggest challenge is to strengthen his base,” said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist. “Obviously, Biden is going to do a pretty strong outreach to moderates and Republicans, but the first thing he needs to do is strengthen his base.”
Mr. Biden has sought to frame the race as a choice between two vastly different presidents, hoping to make it akin to a referendum on Mr. Trump himself. In his State of the Union address last week, Mr. Biden referred to “my predecessor” more than a dozen times as he criticized Mr. Trump on a variety of issues, including abortion, taxes, trade and health care.
Mr. Biden, 81, has recently addressed the issue of his age more directly, often reminding people that Mr. Trump, at 77, is not that young. His campaign has also begun emphasizing the contrast with Trump in TV ads, starting with $30 million in funding last week.
The Trump campaign had long expected to clinch the Republican nomination by March 19 at the latest. To many, his nomination seemed like a foregone conclusion since the January 15 Iowa caucuses, when the nominating process began and he gave Trump a 30-point lead, dashing the hopes of his competitors. Ta.
Last week, the former president’s path was simplified. His final rival, Haley, was predictably defeated on Super Tuesday and dropped out of the race.
“It’s up to Donald Trump to capture the votes of those who didn’t support Trump, both inside and outside his party, and I hope he does,” Haley said last Wednesday. He refused to express support for Trump.
Recent polls show that despite a tough Republican primary, Republican voters overwhelmingly support Mr. Trump in the general election, and Mr. It was suggested that more effort is required.
President Trump has focused particularly on the U.S.-Mexico border in recent speeches, promising to launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history” and speaking in apocalyptic terms about the rise in illegal immigration. .
“I will end the suffering of our people, the sacking of our cities, the sacking of our towns, the violation of our people, and the subjugation of our country,” President Trump said at a rally in Georgia over the weekend. “These people are conquering our country.”
President Trump this week sought to delay his first trial, which was scheduled to begin March 25 in New York. The former president is accused of falsifying his business records to hide hush money payments to an adult film actress, and has pleaded not guilty.
Unlike Trump, Biden did not face a prominent rival in the primary. Democrats rallied behind the incumbent president, rescheduling the primary to begin in South Carolina, the state that put Biden on the path to victory in 2020.
A leading opponent, Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, ended his campaign last week after failing to win any delegates.
The most significant opposition to Biden in the primary came in the form of an organized effort to vote “irresponsible” in protest of the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war. “Irresponsible” accounted for 13% of Democratic primary votes in Michigan and about 19% of primary votes in Minnesota, two states with large Arab-American populations.
Scott Clement contributed to this report.
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