By: Abe Wolf

     The new year brings a new election year, and with President Joe Biden in the fourth and final year his term, that only means one thing: the next presidential election.

     The Democratic incumbent is seeking reelection for his party and a second term for his administration. With the support of his party, backed by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden is going full throttle into November, even after significant criticism, with an approval rating of 37% according to NBC News.

     On the other side of the aisle, the Republican party is going through the primary season to see who the people want as their Republican nominee heading into November. The current leader in the race for nomination is former President Donald Trump, who polls at 73.5% currently, according to ABC News’ Project 538. Donald Trump is attempting to be the first president to be reelected for a second nonconsecutive term since President Grover Cleveland. Trump, who faces forty-four federal charges and forty-seven state charges across four different criminal cases, as well as instigating and influencing an insurrection on the Capitol Building that shook the nation on January 6, 2021, has major influence on the party and has so far won by significant amounts in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. The big question is how he will do facing the very man he lost to in the 2020 election, if he does in fact get the nomination.

     The woman who faces Donald Trump is former governor of South Carolina and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Polling at 17.8%, Haley looks to power through her home state of South Carolina in the primary, giving her a big boost into the rest of the primary season. She wants to bring a new generation to power in the Republican party and move past the years of Trump’s leadership. With her polls, however, and not much endorsement from old rivals in the race who have since dropped out, she is going to have to fight hard to make nomination happen for herself and the potential future administration.

     The Squire sat down with social studies teacher, Mr. Taylor, to get his views on the potential for a new or familiar face leading the Republican party and the general election.

     Taylor thinks that Trump is appealing to the Republican voters because, “He positions himself as an outsider and a champion of the forgotten and that appeals to many who feel like politics is about elites.” He also finds irony in working class members supporting a “born millionaire who has never held a shovel in his life.” When asked about how Independents on the ballot will affect a Trump versus Biden election, Taylor said that his biggest fear is voter turnout to begin with, since the two main candidates are not very appealing, and he believes that the election is “…in favor of whoever can motivate the most people to come over to their side.”

     The Squire would like to thank Mr. Taylor for sharing his takes on the future of the election and how it could all go down.

     The 2024 Presidential Election is, arguably, going to be a very important one for our nation in its short history, and it may possibly be one that will cause even more tension among civilians who are all moving farther and farther from the center of the political spectrum, whether it be left or right. Regardless, voters will need to educate themselves to decide what will be the best for the people of this nation. The options go beyond Democrat or Republican, as there are more options that will on the ballot, such as Libertarians, Green Party members, and Independents, such as Robert Kennedy Jr. One day, we the people of the United States will realize that voting is not about just selecting the red or the blue, but making the best choice for the constituents and the direction of the nation.