The upcoming election will feature a rematch of the two candidates that America most hates. Neither of these men are qualified to run the book club at a senior living community, much less the entire country, so the fact that they’ve gotten this far anyway raises an interesting question: what exactly went wrong?
It’s no secret that Biden and Trump weren’t the most loved presidents to ever have served. With Trump’s problematic social ideology and the conflict over his role in the January 6 riot, a lot of people—Republicans included—are undoubtedly having second thoughts about reelecting him (as they should; how do we justify re-nominating a president who was impeached twice?).
And Biden is not the ideal person to dictate internal and foreign policy for the next four years either; the rising inflation and overall lack of control during his term speaks for itself. In fact, according to a poll done by Reuters, 44% of Democrats did not want Biden to run again, 34% of Republicans did not want Trump to run again, and about two-thirds of all respondents would rather that neither of them ran.
The problem is with the system that allows each of these candidates to win over their individual parties despite the fact that most voters dislike them. In the primaries, only registered Republicans or Democrats vote, so while the majority seems to choose the two candidates, they’re actually chosen by the majority of one group. This also leaves out Independents, who consequently find themselves caught between two bad options.
But even with our current system, we should still get more qualified candidates than this.
Biden is currently 81 years old, and Trump is 77, though he will be 78 by Election Day; either way, the next president will be the oldest to ever have served.
Neither Biden nor Trump have shown much open-mindedness, and both seem to have little knowledge of the needs of the diverse population of the United States. Not to mention, they’re wildly out of touch with how their laws and policies actually affect others.
When an administration run largely by men signs an international declaration denying abortion as a part of health support for women, it raises a few questions about the actual priorities of these leaders (since they clearly do not include the well-being of U.S. citizens).
This makes sense, given that both have pursued a career in politics for many, many years (Biden won his first election for Congress in 1972, and while Trump has tried to brand himself as an outsider, he has been the major political force in the U.S. for a decade), and the current political climate encourages extremism and polarization.
Maybe the citizens of the United States need someone a little bit younger and newer.
This problem of age has occurred with all elected positions, leaving us with an average age of 58 years—19.5 years older than the average American. The age gap between the representatives in Congress and the people that they represent is old enough to vote, rent an apartment, serve jury duty and donate its sweet, injustice-flavored blood.
But alas, according to the 56% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans who do favor Biden and Trump, one of these men will make a fantastic leader.
Just imagine it now: the 47th president staggering into a cabinet meeting to speak in a wheezing voice that no one else understands about a subject that he does not understand. At 4 p.m., it is already past his bedtime. Deep down inside, he just wants to play golf. His cabinet nods and smiles as he rambles on, then carries on however they please.
For four entire years.
We have a minimum age to run for president, so why not a maximum? Or what about an independently administered test to assess mental capability? We take SATs to get into college, and a driving test to ensure everyone’s safety on the road, so why not one in order to lead the country? The United States really just needs to rework the entire election process; it’s clearly broken, so why not fix it?
In the meantime, we can look forward to an onslaught of negative propaganda and more useless signs than a crossroads in Wonderland.
Regardless of who wins in November, the majority of voters will start counting down the days until 2028, hoping that somehow, this process will not repeat itself again.
