Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, May 11, 2025

Biden v Trump: a roadmap to the 2024 presidential election

Biden v Trump: a roadmap to the 2024 presidential election

For now, a rerun of the 2020 race looks almost certain. With months to go till the first primaries, who is best placed to win?

Republican and Democratic voters have to wait nearly a year to decide on their candidates, but the US's 2024 presidential election campaign is already well underway.

So far, the odds are in favour of a head-to-head race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the first election since 1892 to pit a former president against a sitting one. So what can we expect, and who might come out on top?

Biden officially launched his reelection bid last month, rallying Americans to join him with a new slogan: "let’s finish the job". Meanwhile, on the other side, polls, fundraising numbers and endorsements all seem to point one way: while he already faces primary challengers as well as serious legal problems, Trump is set to win the Republican nomination.

He was recently indicted by a New York grand jury over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, but according to one recent poll, 68% of Republican primary voters consider the investigations into his conduct "politically motivated" and agree that "we must support him".

The former president is also ahead when it comes to money. The Trump campaign reported a $15.4 million fundraising haul for the first quarter of the year, putting him ahead of the two other declared GOP candidates. "Anti-woke" entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy declared $11.4 million, a sum overwhelmingly sourced from his personal wealth; Trump's former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, meanwhile, initially claimed to have raised a similar figure, but ultimately turned out to have pulled in just $5.1 million.

Crucially, Trump's numbers do not reflect the effect of his recent indictment, or the civil suit that saw him found liable for sexual assault. In the two weeks after the Stormy Daniels indictment, the Trump campaign raised an additional $15.4 million, receiving more than 312,000 donations – 97% of which were less than $200.


Establishment blessing


If money matters, so do endorsements. While support for Trump is far from unanimous, the GOP's increasingly extreme Washington leaders are so far still backing him. Haley has not attracted much in the way of top-tier endorsements, while other possible candidates yet to jump in – former vice president Mike Pence, for one – show little sign of gathering steam.

It remains possible that popular Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could pose a threat to Trump’s nomination. But while he has long been seen as by far Trump's most significant challenger, the chatter about his chances against the former president has died down noticeably in recent months.

Biden’s campaign announcement, meanwhile, has hardly generated a wave of enthusiasm. According to an NBC poll, 70% of all Americans, including 51% of Democrats, think that he should not run for a second term. And yet, there is no sign of any mainstream Democrat stepping forward to challenge him.


There are two other candidates running against him so far: spiritual author Marianne Williamson, who campaigned unsuccessfully in the 2020 contest, and longtime anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr, whose father was murdered while campaigning for president in 1968. But both have been firmly frozen out by the party establishment, and so far, neither appears to pose any meaningful threat to Biden's chances; there is no indication the president will appear alongside them at any TV debates.

Even with no mainstream Democratic challenger on the horizon, Biden's nomination is hardly a sure thing. Forced to compete on the gruelling campaign trail while also holding the presidency, the octogenarian Biden's verbal and physical performance may yet raise further doubts over whether he is fit for the job.

But while combination of consistently discouraging polls, constant Republican allegations of corruption involving the Biden family and doubts about Biden's ability to serve out a full second term leave at least some space for an alternative scenario to play out, there remains no indication of what that would scenario would be.

So assuming that a 2020 rematch is on the cards, who would be in a better position to win the White House?


Class consciousness


Recent polls suggest the rematch would be a tight race, but the road ahead is still long and full of uncertainties. What seems clear, however, is that both candidates will revert to Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign slogan: “It’s the economy, stupid”. And while Biden is currently insisting that his economic plan is working, economic gut feelings could still work in the GOP’s favour.

While a lot can and will happen over the next 17 months, the economic outlook is far from encouraging, as the risk of recession remains high. Record-high inflation has been punishing Americans for the best part of two years: according to a recent survey by McLaughlin & associates, 65% of voters believe the US is heading in the wrong direction, and 79% say their household finances have been adversely affected by the economy.

Moreover, an unprecedented debt default – with potentially devastating consequences for the American economy - remains a possibility, with Biden seemingly unwilling to compromise with Republican demands in exchange for a vote to lift the debt ceiling.

The GOP's opportunity here stems from the fact that the party's base has substantially changed, rebalancing away from wealthy "country club" suburbanites and instead relying on a culturally conservative and economically populist middle- and working-class Americans – that is, people hit hardest by the economy's problems.

By way of evidence, nine of the ten wealthiest congressional districts are now represented by Democrats, while Republicans represent 64% of the congressional districts whose median incomes sit below the national median.

Yet even with an advantage on the economic front, in order to secure a majority, Trump would have to balance the claims of his conservative base without alienating independent voters. This would demand a change in style that the former president may not be willing to make, if he's even capable of doing so.


Swing states


Meanwhile, America's electoral geography has changed over the past decade, with Democrats making advances in urban centres and Republicans cementing their advantage in rural areas.

The crucial Electoral College battlegrounds have also changed. Coming off the last two elections, former swing states Ohio, Iowa and even Florida are now firmly in the red column. Eyes are now turned to the the onetime Democratic “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, three states that went for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020 – both times by extremely narrow margins.

And regardless of who the candidates are, the economic and geographical realignment of the two party's electoral coalitions means the 2024 election will be decided by suburban voters in those same three states, along with the rapidly liberalising battlegrounds of Arizona and Georgia – two states that locked up Biden's victory in 2020.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Warren Buffett to Step Down as Berkshire CEO After Nearly 60 Years
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Pope Francis Laid to Rest in Rome as World Leaders Attend Funeral
Not Child’s Play: How Competitive Gaming Became a Global Economic Empire
California Surpasses Japan to Become the World’s Fourth-Largest Economy
Former U.S. Congressman George Santos sentenced to eighty-seven months for wide-ranging fraud
Israel Considers Limited Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Amid Diplomatic Efforts
Saudi Arabia Offers Max Verstappen Unprecedented Deal to Join Aston Martin
Global Pistachio Shortage Amid Rising Demand for 'Dubai Chocolate'
IMF Predicts No Global Recession Amid Trade Tensions
Worldwide Markets Decline as U.S.-China Trade Frictions Intensify
OpenAI Lands Unprecedented $40 Billion Investment
Removing the Political Adversary is Dismantling What's Remaining of Turkey's Economy.
Ex-FIFA President and French Football Icon Acquitted of Corruption Allegations
White House Investigates Security Breach After Journalist Accidentally Added to Secret Yemen Strike Chat
Volunteers in Jeddah Ensure No One Goes Hungry During Ramadan Iftar
New Restaurant Opens in Makkah's Iconic Clock Tower for Ramadan Iftar
Saudi Arabia's Project Masam Removes 552 Houthi Mines in Yemen
Saudi Arabia Fines Over 400 Foreign Trucks for Regulatory Violations
Saudi National Campaign for Charitable Work Reports Significant Donations in Ramadan
Historic Al-Hosn Al-Asfal Mosque Restored in Asir as Part of National Heritage Initiative
KSrelief Expands Humanitarian Efforts in Syria, Sudan, and Lebanon
Saudi Arabia Advocates for Global Water Cooperation at Forum
Madinah Governor Tours Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah
Saudi Foreign Minister in Cairo to Lead Meeting on Gaza Developments
Recognition of Saudi and Pakistani Entrepreneurs at Riyadh Ceremony
UAE Announces $1.4 Trillion Investment Plan in the United States
Saudi Arabia Innovates in Soil Quality and Water Conservation
Governor of Taif Engages with Rose and Aromatic Plants Cooperative
Saudi Food and Drug Authority Enhances Preparations for Hajj Season
Saudi Arabia Distributes Aid to Yemen and Romania
Restoration of Historic Al-Qalaah Mosque in Riyadh Underlines Heritage Preservation Efforts
Saudi Arabia Arrests Over 25,000 for Immigration Violations in One Week
UAE’s ADQ and Energy Capital Partners Announce $25 Billion Energy Venture in the U.S.
KSrelief Launches Extensive Ramadan Food Aid Initiative
Ramadan Celebrations Revitalize Historic Jeddah
Makkah Authorities Urge Worshippers to Follow Crowd Management Guidelines
Direct Flights Between Dammam and Damascus Reestablished for Syrian Residents
Saudi Main Index Rises to Close at 11,760 Amid Mixed Market Performance
Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch Visits Prophet's Mosque in Madinah
Cultural Development Fund Hosts Third Annual Storytellers Event in Riyadh
×