Over the last ten months of poor economic growth, surging crime, and embarrassment on the world stage, a certain amount of buyer’s regret began to set in among the voting public. While Democrat voters and politicians continue to distance themselves from President Joe Biden, media attention has – as ever – looked across the aisle to focus on the Republican Party and its potential leaders for 2024. But who has the support of those not enamored with the current president? Liberty Nation conducted an online poll among readers to determine who our audience supports for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. The results were surprising – but not for the reasons you may think.
Starting in mid-October, LN asked readers, “If the 2024 Republican presidential nomination comes down to a choice between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, which candidate would you prefer?” With thousands of responses, the results overwhelmingly favored the 45th president, with 63% of the vote. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis garnered 37%.
But surely this just shows that the party is still Trump’s? Well, yes and no.
Trump’s If He Wants It
There’s no escaping the fact that President Trump won more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 – an increase of about ten million. This was amid the four-year negative media campaign from the Fourth Estate that sought to turn every sentence into a scandal and every action into an atrocity. In spite of all this, more people voted for him than ever before. It’s likely two key factors played a role in that extra voting bloc and the results of the LN poll.
The first is competency. In 2016, Trump was an unknown quantity who pushed his way to the presidency by playing his own game. Many voters were not sure that a bombastic businessman and reality TV star could really captain the good ship America. Over his four years in office – although his shenanigans pushed some voters away – he drew in those who were initially reluctant.
The second factor is that many supporters feel Trump deserves the chance to finish what he started. Democrats had impeachment papers ready to go before his inauguration and were campaigning to impeach before he stepped foot in the Oval Office; for many, this goes against the credo of giving everyone a fair shot.
Perhaps voters just want Trump to catch a break? Few other presidents in history have been put through the Fourth Estate ringer like 45, and Americans may see this as a bum deal, with another shot at the presidency his recompense for trying to deliver on his promises.
Success or Failure Be Damned
Winston Churchill
[Sagall Press, Ltd., London, 1945] Artist Unknown. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)
Wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” And perhaps it is this concept that has voters still backing Donald Trump for president.
He succeeded in so many areas of legislation, from building walls and a robust economy to making America a player once again on the world stage. During his presidency, it may have been a case of folks not seeing the woods for the trees; when contrasted with the stark reality of the Biden administration’s ineptitude, the differences become more vivid. And as for failure, the 2020 election was a major blow to Trump supporters, but rightly or wrongly, the president refused to crawl away and lick his wounds.
Most of all, it seems that potential voters are reacting to the third clause of Churchill’s timeless adage, that it is the “courage to continue” that makes all the difference. In 2016, Donald Trump was the underdog candidate – first in the GOP primaries and then later in the presidential race – and there are few things the American public likes more than an underdog.
~ Read more from Mark Angelides.
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