It is now officially less than a year out from the 2024 presidential election, and the country remains as deeply divided as at any point since the American Civil War. As neither of the current front runners – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump – have high approval ratings, it increasingly looks like next year’s election will be about voting against rather than for a particular candidate.
Yet, Trump is winning favor on a couple of significant issues.
According to the latest CBS News Poll, a majority of Americans believe they will be better off financially if Trump returns to the White House, while more voters also said that Trump will keep the U.S. out of a foreign war.
Bidenomics – a Jumbled Mess?
President Biden’s economic policies – Bidenomics – have not resonated with voters, and even the eponymous shorthand isn’t finding favor. In fact, no one seems to like it, including the president.
“I don’t know what the hell that is,” Biden said in a speech in Philadelphia earlier this year referencing the term Bidenomics after it was coined by The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Biden had tried to downplay its use but then began to embrace it. The branding has been described as a “jumbled mess,” which some critics of the president could also describe his economic policies!
The CBS News Poll found that those who are feeling worse off financially – due to high inflation – are backing Trump. Income inequality remains an issue.
“Voters continue to believe the wealthy are favored over the middle and working class in America today, and Mr. Biden has not persuaded them this would change during a second term, nor does he have any meaningful advantage over Trump in being seen as helping the middle and working class,” CBS News reported.
Trump’s Foreign Policy
Though foreign policy is rarely a voter driver for presidential politics – except when there has been a major war, such as the First and Second World Wars – Trump’s isolationist “America First” rallying cry has struck a chord.
The CBS News Poll found that Americans believe Trump is more likely to keep the U.S. out of foreign entanglements and that the former president would be more likely to bring peace and stability throughout the world.
On the issue of support for Israel, which is now in the spotlight given the war in the Middle East, more than a quarter of Americans (26 percent) said there would be too much support for Israel if Biden wins – compared to 20 percent who felt the same if Trump wins. However, 31 percent felt Biden would offer too little support, while just 23 percent said the same in a Trump return to the White House.
Regarding Ukraine, 79 percent said Biden would support Ukraine over Russia, compared to only 27 percent who said Trump would stand with Kyiv over Moscow. Moreover, 35 percent said they believed Trump would support Russia over Ukraine while only six percent said the same about Biden.
The Issue of Race
CBS News further noted that race will certainly play an issue in the 2024 campaign.
“Most White voters backing Trump believe that it’s racial minorities who are favored over White people in America today — but they believe that if Trump wins, he would try to treat everyone the same,” CBS News noted. “These sentiments have echoes in those expressed by Trump voters as far back as Election Day 2016, when he first won the presidency.”
By contrast, Biden voters – and Democrats overall – seem to see the issue of race in the United States differently.
“They believe White people are advantaged over racial minorities, and that Mr. Biden would try to treat them the same — views are shared by White voters backing Mr. Biden.”
The poll also showed that 67 percent of Biden voters believe white people are favored in America today, compared to 14 percent of Trump voters. Those numbers are flipped when it comes to racial minorities being more favored with 58 percent of Trump voters agreeing, while just nine percent of Biden voters expressed the same sentiments. Twenty-four percent of Biden voters and 27 percent of Trump voters said white people and racial minorities are treated the same.
Little “Excitement” for Either Candidate
The CBS News Poll found that currently among likely voters, Trump has 51 percent support to Biden’s 48 percent. Neither candidate’s supporters have a majority of “excited” voters about a potential rematch a year from now, however. Just 23 percent of Biden voters said they were “excited” by a Biden vs. Trump rematch in 2024, compared to 48 percent of Trump voters.
Yet, 64 percent of Trump voters said they were “hopeful” when 62 percent were “motivated” with 59 percent saying they were “nervous” and 57 percent saying they were “frustrated.” Nineteen percent said they were “bored.”
Among Biden voters, 74 percent said they were “nervous,” and 72 percent said they were “frustrated,” while 50 percent claimed to be “motivated” and 38 percent “hopeful,” with 31 percent saying they were “bored.”
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
