A suspected felon, a proto-Libertarian TikToker, an ardent military interventionist and a right wing culture vulture governor all walk into a bar. No, just kidding, they just walked into (and out of) the Iowa caucus.
Donald Trump, a former president currently charged for a litany of felonies that include but are not limited to: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct, an official proceeding. Despite this, Trump received over 50% of the votes in the Iowa caucus. He achieved this mainly through his already high stardom among loyal Republicans,his staunch border security policies, and traditional rightwing cultural views.
The most Libertarian-leaning of almost all candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy, came in offering a couple unique takes on the hot button issues of 2024. Notably anti-interventionist in both Israeli and Ukrainian conflicts and most loyal to the Trump crew, Vivek made a name for himself among younger conservative males by seemingly pointing out some of the most pervasive hypocrisies and shortcomings of the modern GOP. This is in addition to him being one of the first Republican candidates to break into the realm of TikTok. After receiving only 7.7% of the vote in the Caucus he dropped out of the race and handed his endorsement to Donald Trump. Among some of the foremost candidates to bite the dust of the apparently impervious “Trump train.”
The candidate pledging their most outward support of Middle Eastern interventionism. Nikki Haley pledges undying support for America’s allegiance to Israel in addition to being one of the most vocal republican supporters of Ukraine standing in opposition to other Republicans’ less than comprehensive positions on the conflict. Her Iowa caucus campaign ended in melancholy as she only received 19.1% of the total vote. In spite of her performance she has chosen to stay in the race while consistently trailing Trump by almost insurmountable deficits within Republican voter polling. She is now trying to campaign as the “bad girl” of the Republicans, a truly anti-establishment candidate to rival that of Trump. But ironically, her policies are simply promising a return to a bygone era of right wing neo-conservatism and “patriotic” yet useless foreign entanglements.
Finally, Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, arguably touts more radically right wing cultural views than that of Donald Trump. Splashing on the scene through his shaky take on classroom etiquette in regards to LGBTQ+ discussion, his war on “wokeism,” in addition to his buddy-buddy relationship with Donald Trump. For reasons only known to DeSantis himself, he chose to run in opposition to the leading challenger to the Biden administration. This act of betrayal would shockingly not impress many Republicans past the Florida-Georgia line. Reflected most adequately by his Iowa caucus performance in which he was only able to muster 21% of the votes. This performance may seem at least presentable, but considering DeSantis spent between 51 million and 153 million dollars on campaigning in the state, it’s utterly shameful. A short time after the caucus and two days before the New Hampshire primary DeSantis dropped from the race.
The race to challenge Biden has been a near circus of Republican incompetence with an undertone of just plain awkwardness. The leading candidate and the man most suspected all along, Donald Trump, leads both the Primary and the General election in almost all polling. Unfortunately for Biden the vast majority of Americans believe he is too old for another term.
“According to the poll, conducted using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel, 86% of Americans think Biden, 81, is too old to serve another term as president. That figure includes 59% of Americans who think both he and former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, are too old and 27% who think only Biden is too old,” according to ABC News.
This is truly a grim reflection upon american politics, the matter of age, has obviously affected the general voting base. Biden is historically unpopular and is considered too old by the majority of the populus.Trump is charged for felonies in addition to being considered too old by a slightly smaller majority.
This presidential race has been the most peculiar in the memory of any American alive today. Interestingly, the Civil War was the last time a running president was taken off of a ballot in a state, and the War of 1812 was the last time the capital was attacked in a similar manner to January 6th. No matter who wins the upcoming election, the essence of the American political system has permanently marred both sides. After this election, a metamorphosis must occur for both the Republicans and the Democrats. The stranglehold of the two party system on America has led to a never-ending cycle of Americans choosing between the least of two despicable evils. it must break through this irrational chaos into a new age not just for the parties, but for the sake of the nation itself.
