By Ray Cardello for March 19, 2024, Season 25 / Post 23

The candidates will make promises until they are blue in the face. This election cycle will be different than any of our lifetimes. You have to go back to 1956 when President Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson in a rare rematch of the 1952 election. This was the last of six such rematches in history and the last until 2024. It will be the first time since Grover Cleveland that a former President ran for a second term. Biden and Trump will have much to say as we progress towards November, but they will have to run on and be judged for their record as President. On the surface, in a battle of records, I would think President Trump would have the upper hand, but as the Republican, he has to battle Biden, the legacy media, and the swamp that is Washington, D.C. That levels the battlefield for Biden.

The orchestrated effort by the legacy media to blow the comments of Donald Trump about the auto industry entirely out of context is evidence of their collaboration with Biden. They took a snippet of Trump’s comments where he was talking about the “bloodbath” that EVs are causing in the auto industry and gaslighted America to think Trump was calling for violence. It did not matter who you listened to or which network. Every talking head appeared to be reading from the same notes.

There is no consensus or popular candidate in this race. Throw Robert Kennedy Jr or Jill Stein into the conversation, and the race gets even more divisive. This election will be about issues, and each side has the same topics on the board, but for far different reasons. Each voter must reconcile these hot-button issues and which impacts them or their family the most. The next step is to match your views with a candidate, and hope they are solid in their principles and will not flip-flop after Election Day. Nobody will give you good odds on part two working for you.

Every key issue we face has polar opposite views, and none show any signs of compromise bringing them towards the middle.

Economy: The Democrats have two data points to measure the economy. One is how high they can raise taxes before the revolution begins. The other is regulation. Biden continues to claim he is building the strongest economy in history from the middle. Unfortunately, Biden’s policies to date have all but eliminated the middle class.

Though the Democrats will not admit it, Trump showed us a better way, and by dropping tax rates and eliminating unnecessary regulations, he grew the economy, dropped unemployment numbers, and raised the average American’s salary.

The Border: This one is straightforward. Biden and the Democrats want no border and a never-ending flow of immigrants. The Republicans want a secure border, letting in only those who have proven they qualify for asylum.

Abortion: It is a shame this issue determines a Presidential choice for some. There is so much misinformation about the Supreme Court striking down Roe V. Wade. They returned the abortion to the States. Some states have adopted the most progressive abortion laws imaginable, while others have outlawed abortion completely. This is the beauty of the Republic. You have the liberty to live in whichever state matches your political views. The problem over the last fifty years, is people migrating to another state want to change the new state to conform with them. Assimilation is a foreign concept with too many people.

There are other issues, such as LGBTQ rights, immigration, crime, foreign policy, and education, but the three I highlighted are the top 3, in varying order, on virtually every voter’s list. Take a break from the candidate rhetoric, do some self-analysis of where you stand, and then see which former President deserves a second term.