In a Nov. 7 article appearing under the headline “Donald Trump Looks Terrifyingly Electable,” The Economist, the historic mouthpiece of the City of London, now claims to be extremely worried that former President Donald Trump might just win the presidency in November 2024, despite his multitude of legal problems. Trump’s hold over the Republican Party “appears ironclad,” it intones.
Like many other analysts over the past week, The Economist takes off from the results of the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, released last weekend, which found that Trump was leading by a margin of at least four points over Biden in five of six swing states, and that Biden had a slight lead only in Wisconsin. Trump is supposed to be unelectable, but these poll results were scary enough that “even among Biden fans, doubt is creeping in.” The Economist offers various caveats that self-consoling Democrats may use to convince themselves that the situation isn’t so bad—it’s an early poll, public opinion changes, Biden’s team has tons of money for his campaign, etc.
Nonetheless, such real factors as the state of the economy, about which many Americans are very worried ("Bidenomics” notwithstanding), Biden’s low approval rating and the fact that he’s saddled with a nonfunctional Vice President Kamala Harris, must be taken into account, warns the London bankers’ rag. Trump will hit Biden on all these issues. Then there’s the issue of Biden’s age, which is not a factor he can change. “He has a weary physiognomy and occasionally mangles his words” which will likely become more noticeable as he ages.
What to do? Biden isn’t likely to step down, so he’ll have to step up his campaign—woo working-class voters of all races, try to create enthusiasm among Progressives, who are very irritated right now about his stance on Israel. Young voters “will need some encouragement to find enthusiasm for their geriatric President.” The Economist fails to mention that many of those young voters are out on the street protesting Biden’s backing for Israeli genocide in Gaza.
