This is the third election in a row that Americans are unhappy with their two main choices for president. And for the second election in a row, those candidates are Joe Biden and Donald Trump. How did we get here and why are these two unpopular politicians the only viable options? Again? Here’s a quick primer on the basics:
How we got Biden
He’s the current president, and most presidents seek reelection.
He’s 81 and already the oldest president ever. Still, Democrats buy the argument that Biden is their best candidate to defeat Trump. After all, he beat him in 2020.
Also, there’s no simple way for the party to force him out.
It’s true that Democrats could have launched a serious effort to primary Biden, but they would have needed to do that much earlier.
Plus, no big names in Democratic politics were willing to challenge him.
Ultimately, they calculated that changing things up now was too big of a risk, because it would cause too much chaos and uncertainty for the party.
Who will win?
The election between these two unpopular politicians is expected to be close. A record number of voters cast ballots in 2020 for either Trump or Biden. And political strategists think whoever turns out more voters this time around is going to win.
About this story
Illustrations by James Yates. Editing by Betty Chavarria, Paige Cunningham and Sarah Frostenson. Copy editing by Jamie Zega.
