Donald Trump and Joe Biden are unelectable, but Americans seem stuck with them

Don’t we want better, America?

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are unelectable by conventional standards.

And yet, both seem most likely to be our options for president in 2024.

One is a sitting president and the other a former president and both are polling higher than 50 percent nationally in their respective primaries, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

So they are electable in that sense. But both carry baggage that in a normal timeline would be considered deal breakers. Fortunately for them, this is no normal timeline.

Biden’s approval rating is weak. According to Gallup, he stands at 42 percent approval. The average for U.S. presidents at this time in their presidency is 51 percent. Trump at this time in his presidency was slightly worse, at 40 percent.

The last president to get booted from office after one term, George H.W. Bush, was polling at an astounding 71 percent at this time in his presidency, which means a lot can happen to change public opinion between now and Election Day.

Biden is doing better than former President Jimmy Carter, who also served only one term. Carter was polling at only 32 percent at this time in his presidency and then was totally wiped out by Ronald Reagan. For what it’s worth, Trump left office hovering around the Carter line, which makes it crazy to think we’re still even talking about this guy.

The economy, which often makes or breaks candidacies, is not particularly strong under Biden. Like California the U.S. economy performs well in a macro sense, but voters feel the pain on a micro level.

The job market has remained strong, though last month’s numbers showed signs of slowing down. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8 percent last month, but is still very low, while labor force participation is holding steady in the low 60’s.

Inflation is down significantly from its peak a year ago, but it is still higher than what’s considered the acceptable rate. And though wage growth is slightly outpacing inflation, voters aren’t seeing the results.

These mixed results contribute to satisfaction on a personal level. According to a Wall Street Journal poll taken late last month, 58 percent of voters think the economy is worse than two years ago and nearly three out of four voters say inflation is worsening.

To the extent anyone still cares about the federal debt and deficit (I do!), the deficit is expected to double to $2 trillion by the end of the fiscal year this month. This is due in part to larger interest payments on debt and reduced tax income from a “slumping stock market,” according to The Dispatch. Of course, excessive federal spending during and after COVID caused a lot of this trouble and Biden and Trump both deserve part of the blame.

If the economy is the albatross around Biden’s neck, Trump is weighed down by his attempted insurrection. These things are not equal, but Trump is somehow getting a break because voters seem to have a short memory.

Trump is currently facing several indictments for various crimes and last month he received his fourth, for attempting to overturn the Georgia election results, which included pressuring the state’s top election official to “find’ the 11,780 votes needed to hand the result to Trump and lying about alleged voter fraud.

In normal times, four indictments would make it challenging for someone to run for and serve as president. If nothing else, the person would be very distracted. But for some inexplicable reason, a majority of Republican voters still seem to think Trump would make a good president, though a recent CNN poll shows 13 percent of Republican voters think January 6 makes Trump unfit for office while another 19 percent say it casts doubt over his fitness.

I suppose we could debate how much responsibility Trump had for what happened in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but at a minimum he encouraged the attempted insurrection with his words and an indictment is alleging a lot more.

If Trump went to such great lengths to lie about voter fraud, overturn election results both inside and outside the Capitol, and seize power in violation of the Constitution, why would anyone think he wouldn’t try a second time if given the chance?

It’s strange to watch myself write this column and compare the vulnerabilities of a softening economy to an attempted insurrection as if they are the same thing, but, again, this is no normal timeline.

But if you think that’s strange, watch as I segue into the comparatively trivial issue of both men’s age!

Both men are old with diminished cognitive capacity and voters are concerned, though the concerns are particularly strong with Biden. Though only a few years Trump’s senior (80 and 77 years old, respectively), Biden’s senior moments stand out as he continues to ramble and look confused at public events, so much so that his presidency could double as Weekend at Bernie’s III.

That same Wall Street Journal poll reported 73 percent of voters think Biden is too old to run for a second term. Two-thirds of Democrats say the same. By contrast, 43 percent of voters think Trump is too old, which is significantly lower but still a lot.

So they’re both too old, one is failing on the economy, the other tried overthrowing the government and they are both loathed by the American public at large. Unelectable under normal circumstances.

But at this rate one of them is going to win, so again I ask: Don’t we want better, America?

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords