“We have a general election campaign effectively now, between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They are, you know, set for this rematch – one that a lot of people don’t want,” that’s what Jodi Schneider, political news director for Bloomberg TV and Radio, told Audacy Wednesday.
It might be months until the Republican and Democrat parties hold their national conventions, but – as Schneider said – the presidential election has pretty much started.
As the dust from Super Tuesday primaries settled, lone challengers to both current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump dropped out of the race after major defeats. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suspended her campaign as Trump’s GOP challenger and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) abandoned his attempt to challenge Biden.
While Phillips said he’s endorsing Biden, Haley’s support of Trump isn’t as clear. Schneider said the former South Carolina governor’s comments “stopped short” of an official endorsement.
“In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” said Haley.
Although Trump handily beat Haley in most of the primary elections, Reed Galen, a political consultant who previously served as deputy campaign manager for John McCain’s presidential campaign and deputy campaign manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger, told Audacy that her performance in the primaries reveals something about the state of the GOP.
“The problem is that nagging 20% to 25% who kept voting for Nikki Haley when they had the opportunity, or someone else when they had the opportunity,” he explained.
Galen said that Haley appealed to voters who long for the pre-Trump GOP days of George W. Bush and McCain. Trump has been alienating those voters, he added.
“What I think the Trump campaign has to do now, and what, frankly, they’re preternaturally incapable of or unwilling to do is start to reach back out to those moderate Republicans,” Reed said.
At the same time, Biden extended an olive branch to Haley supporters when she dropped out of the race Wednesday.
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” said Biden, according to a report in The Hill.
Schneider said that the expected race between Trump and Biden will eventually come down to seven swing states. Both campaigns will be focused on undecided voters, and polls have indicated that many Americans aren’t enthusiastic about either potential candidate.
While challengers from within the Republican and Democrat parties dropped out this week, independent candidates also have the potential to tip the election to one side or another. Per Ballotpedia, the independent candidates this year include Cornel West, the Green Party’s Jill Stein, Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who began his campaign as a Democrat challenger to Biden. Even though he started as a Democrat, the lawyer – who is, of course, a member of the well-known Kennedy dynasty – has been able to pull donors away from Trump.
“Turnout is going to be very key,” once November rolls around, Schneider said.