According to a WSJ poll, Biden is considered too old while Trump remains the preferred candidate among the Republicans with 60% of the preferences, outstripping his domestic rivals.
In the 2024 White House challenge between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the perception of Americans is that Biden is too old for a second term.
The constant gaffes, the evident psychophysical problems, the perception that he is weak and mentally "boiled", the nickname coined by the rival tycoon, "Sleepy Joe" certainly don’t help.
The WSJ poll
A survey by the Wall Street Journal outlines the perception of the clash, which is still uncertain for now.
The data collected by the poll on President Biden is critical: 73% of Americans consider him too old, only 42% approve of his government, and only 39% have a favorable opinion of him.
From Philadelphia where he is visiting for Labor Day, the incumbent president tried to defend himself with self-irony: "They keep telling me I’m too old. I’m just wiser."
"I will continue to do this work, with your help," the president said on stage in the Pennsylvania city, claiming the creation of millions of jobs since his arrival in the White House.
"When there was the other, China stole our jobs. Now the jobs are returning to the United States," he attacked referring to the potential Republican rival.
Already last week, however, a poll conducted by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research had highlighted the perplexities of the American electorate towards Biden, due to age issues.
When the vote takes place, the American president will be 82 years old and, therefore, would leave the White House at the age of 86. And it cannot be said that “Sleepy Joe” shines with lucidity.
Trump the favorite among the Republican candidates
However, between the two main candidates in the 2024 presidential elections, there is still substantial parity.
Trump remains the Republican’s favorite candidate, despite legal disputes, and is ahead of his main Republican rival, Ron Desantis in the polls: among Republican voters, Trump is the top choice of 59% , an increase of 11% compared to April.
46% consider Trump "mentally fit for the presidency", compared to 36% for Biden.
However, the two candidates are neck-to-neck with 46% of preferences each, and most respondents consider Trump "less honest and likable" than Biden. Furthermore, many believe that Trump “illegally” attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
More than 60% of respondents believe his four criminal cases are politically motivated and without merit, and around half say the allegations fuel their support for him. In short, the legal persecution is read by many as a real witch hunt which risks making Trump a victim, for others even a hero.
DeSantis is the first pick for only 13% and the margin over his pursuers has narrowed: former UN ambassador Nikki Haley is at 8%, the entrepreneur of Indian origins Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%. The share of undecided people is 12%.
Missing a "superstar"
The real problem, however, as pollsters argue, is that voters find themselves sandwiched between two candidates who don’t seem to respond to their desire for change.
Democrats, in particular, need a "superstar" who can save the party from a possible defeat against the Republican opponent.
The most attractive remains the former first lady Michelle Obama, whose name has been circulating for years and it was back to being spent in March. Even if some even hypothesize that Hillary Clinton will take the field yet again.
As former White House official Douglas Mackinnon noted in March on The Hill:
"The Democrats I spoke to all admittedly with a sense of desperation—realizing that such a scenario is, in all likelihood, a fantasy—offered four names as possible savior/superstar candidates: former first lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State, and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former candidate and now White House climate envoy John Kerry, and former Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore."
If the last three are perhaps too old to represent an alternative to the incumbent president, it is precisely the name of the former first lady Michelle Obama that could become the dem’s ace in the hole.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-09-07 10:00:00. Original title: Elezioni USA 2024: testa a testa Biden-Trump, per il 73% il presidente in carica è “troppo vecchio”.
