Biden, Trump to become presumptive presidential nominees, triggering unwanted rematch among Americans

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden and former US President Donald Trump have secured enough delegates to become their respective party's 2024 presidential nominee, US media have projected.

With his win in Georgia's primary on Tuesday, Biden has cleared the 1,968 delegate mark out of 3,934 total to lock up this year's Democratic nomination and represent the party on the ballot in November. He also won the states of Mississippi and Washington.

Trump has also secured enough delegates to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee after winning primaries in the states of Georgia, Mississippi and Washington.

Mathematically, only when a candidate wins a majority of their party's delegates, who will vote at the party's convention this summer, can they clinch the nomination. However, for this year, even long before, the sweeping victories of Biden and Trump since early states had made their nominations almost inevitable.

Following weeks of campaign advertisements, political addresses and voting in more than two dozen primary contests, Americans are confronting a reality that numerous have sought to avoid: a first presidential rematch since 1956.

Early in January, there were already signs of pessimism about the rematch within the nation. "I hate to think that we're constantly navigating the lesser of two evils," said Kimberly Sofge, a 56-year-old project manager in Washington. "I honestly feel that we can do better."

Americans frequently express dissatisfaction with their constrained political alternatives and desire a broader selection.

In a January poll conducted by Ipsos, a global leader in market research, two-thirds of respondents indicated they were "tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new." The survey also revealed that only a quarter of Americans are "satisfied" with the two-party system.

A recent poll by The Hill shows that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has 11 percent voter support.

Kennedy Jr., also known as a strong competitor outside the two parties, is considering an NFL star and a former WWE wrestler as his possible running mates for the November election.

"Defense spending exceeds all other discretionary spending combined. What does that say about our nation's priorities?" he once wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

While third parties may not secure the presidency, they retain the capacity to sway election results. Their impact hinges on two additional factors beyond their vote count: whether they garner disproportionate support from a particular side and the race's closeness between the two primary parties.

There is a rationale for the public pursuing "new faces." Both major contenders have equally notorious records, giving third parties and independent candidates more opportunities.

Biden and members of his administration, notably Vice President Kamala Harris, have been touting "Bidenomics" as their new slogan for the 2024 campaign season.

While Biden and Harris may want to portray Bidenomics as an economic miracle that has significantly enhanced the well-being of the middle and working classes, the evidence suggests otherwise.

A recent study by Lending Club, a financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California, found that 61 percent of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Additionally, approximately 75 percent of those earning less than 50,000 US dollars annually and 65 percent of those with incomes ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 dollars per year face difficulties managing their finances monthly.

Biden is also faced with growing doubts on his age. According to a poll of 980 registered voters conducted in February by The New York Times and Siena College, 61 percent of the respondents that voted for him in 2020 thought that 81-year-old Biden was "too old to be an effective president."

Trump, Biden's rival, hasn't fared much better. Legal difficulties have beset the former president's bid for re-election to the White House. He faces 91 felony charges across four criminal cases surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot in which many view him as an insurrectionist, his mishandling of sensitive government documents and cover-up payments to a porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump's federal court trial for election obstruction in Washington, D.C., has been delayed due to his appeals, while the legal proceedings in Florida and Fulton County, Georgia, are entangled in litigation.

Though the US Constitution sets no limitations based on character or criminal record on a presidential candidate, which means that Trump can still run if he is convicted, polls show that he may lose some of his supporters' votes if he is found guilty.

On whether the trials will stop Trump's re-election bid, Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua: "Not on their own ... but it's likely that an actual conviction will alienate exactly the voters he needs to either vote for him or stay home on election day."

New York Supreme Criminal Court judge Juan Merchan has scheduled the hush-money trial on March 25. With the cases to play out in this election season, Trump will be busy commuting between courts and campaign sites.

Biden and Trump have ratcheted up their rhetoric against each other after the "Super Tuesday" primaries earlier this month when they both won by a landslide in their own party's face-offs. The lengthy, bitter battle for the White House, poised to deepen political divisions, enters a new phase.