Will we really have to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2024?
Let’s hope not.
Are they the best this country has to offer? Of course not.
Surveys clearly show that a vast majority of Americans don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch.
So why would the two major political parties consider nominating Biden and Trump?
The truth is that both parties have become much more polarized than voters. Both parties hold primary elections that are controlled by extremists because they’re the ones who vote in the low-turnout primaries. Most voters don’t turn out until the general election, and then, they’re often forced to choose between a far-left Democrat or a far-right Republican.
That’s why most Americans should favor open primaries — in which all of us can vote, regardless of party affiliation — with the top two going to the final ballot, regardless of party affiliation. That would force the candidates to appeal to the vast majority of commonsense citizens, not just their own party’s extremist minorities. But, of course, the professional politicians prefer the control the closed primaries give them, so citizens will have to fight for open primaries. And it won’t happen soon enough to help us in 2024.
I’m a member and supporter of No Labels, which is planning to offer a third choice — a “unity ticket” of a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican — if both the Democrats and Republicans nominate candidates as unpopular as Biden and Trump. Their plan is to choose their ticket in summer 2024, after the Democratic and Republican conventions. But would that be too late for the unity ticket to generate the funding and enthusiasm needed to win on Nov. 5? Let’s hope not.
But we could also hope that the threat of a unity ticket could cause the Democrats or Republicans — and hopefully both — to choose better candidates than Biden or Trump. They could hardly do worse.
Joe Smyth
Scottsdale, Arizona
Editor’s note: Joe Smyth is a former board chair of Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA, the parent company of the Delaware State News. He’s now retired, and the opinions expressed here are his own.