Trump's presidency is the most controversial in American history. 2016 was a humbling experience for Democrats when Hillary Clinton failed to win the election. While Trump's presidency remains controversial, and he appears to be on his path to defeat, his opponents cannot afford to underestimate him again. Joe Bidden announced his interest in 2020 White House bid evoking a response from President Trump. Bidden has been on Trump's radar for years because he is the strongest Democratic candidate with decades of experience in politics and a substantial support from the public. Going against Trump is hard as he is the incumbent; Trump’s administration has achieved some of the promises, and his supporters will want to see him finish what he started.
President Trump is a controversial man. He confounds the traditional wisdom about politics. Trump is synonymous for his Twitter rants and unpopular interviews, which continue to keep him at a disadvantage (Kreis, 2017). Regardless, Trump still has the support of 41%, which is why Democrats are desperate to nominate a candidate who can beat Trump. Biden's polls are higher than Trump's approval rating by 10% and higher than any other Democrats, including Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris (Bouie, 2018). Democrats cannot afford to underestimate Trump again, and the only way a Democrat can win is by capitalizing on President Trump's many weaknesses.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Since he became the president, America has known what kind of a man Donald Trump is. His tweets, interviews, debates, scandals, and books about him often make his opponents cringe. President Trump has proven himself to be an impulsive and infantile president (Barkun, 2017). However, Trump's appeal to his core supporters, the blue-collar Americans, seems to increase despite his weaknesses (Campello & Zucco, 2016). His core supporters perceive him as someone willing to fight for them. Biden and Sanders are the two strongest Democratic candidates. Biden has criticized Trump claiming he is a political aberration, a sickness that America needs to recover from. Biden's theme is to return America to pre-Trump madness and to restore the soul of the nation. Biden's message is resonating with voters who are tired of Trump. Biden can only beat Trump by taking advantage of his weaknesses on policy, unfulfilled campaign promises, his poor temperament and his scandals.
Most Americans agree that Trump is a divisive leader. In today’s society it is almost impossible for a Trump supporter and a democrat to have a civilized conversation because of their radical differences in opinion (Motyl, 2014). The increasing polarization is due to Trump's outrageous and unpopular ideas, such as building a wall and banning Muslims from entering America, continue to create negative partisanship (Barkan, 2017). Consequently, many voters who did not traditionally favor Democratic candidates are likely to rally behind Biden because they do not support Trump. Trump's unpredictability works to his detriment, and he is slowly losing support in swing states and states that supported him such as Texas, Florida, and Ohio (Bitecofer, 2019). Trump continues to alienate voters, including conservative Republicans who do not support his policies and how he operates. The groups who do not agree with Trump will come together to support Biden as they view him as a better alternative to Trump. Biden should appeal to all groups that Trump as alienated. Biden brings maturity and sensible compromise back to the government intending to unite Americans regardless of their party affiliation.
Trump is yet to deliver on some of his popular campaign promises, and his credibility is on the line. In 2016, Americans voted for Trump because he was new in politics. His campaign promise was to make America great again. Trump's campaign focused on immigration to fire up his supporters, promising to build a wall. Since his election, Trump has demanded billions for the wall, he shut down the government, declared a state of emergency all for the Mexican wall. Biden should take advantage of the immigration issue to beat Trump. A majority of voters believe that America needs a better immigration policy. Trump's cruel practice of ripping toddlers from their parents and putting them in camps did not sit well with a majority of the American public (Ghazal, 2019). Trump's extremist ideas characterized by cruelty and chaos have not worked. Trump focuses on short-term policies to get what he wants, rather than long-term and sustainable policies that benefit everyone. America is ready for pragmatic solutions to the immigration problem and other controversial issues. Biden should propose sensible immigration policies at the legal ports of entry and using technology to identify illegal immigrants, human trafficking, and narcotics from entering America.
President Trump's policies leave a lot to be desired. For instance, one of President's Trump's campaign policies was to bring home all the troops. In December 2018, Trump ordered the withdrawal of all US troops in Syria and his plan to halve US forces in Afghanistan. Both the Republicans and Democrats were against the idea. The Defense Secretary resigned because he did not agree with Trump's plan as it was going to undo all the progress made in the Middle East. Trump's careless approach towards crucial policies continues to alienate him, even from his supporters and staff, with many quitting because Trump is impossible to work with (Barkun, 2017). The US and China became embroiled in a 90-day trade battle with both sides imposing billions in tariffs after Trump's trade policies. It is apparent that Trump's policies come with negative consequences that can be avoided when a sane leader is in power. Trump revived American-Iranian conflict undoing the deal that took years to reach. Trump does not evaluate any of his policies thoroughly, and he does not take into consideration expert opinion. Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement and many trade deals that have been beneficial to Americans. Trump's policies bring unnecessary problems which were not witnessed when Biden was the Vice President during the Obama administration (Ghazal, 2019). Trump's policies point out to another one of his weakness. Trump has no experience in politics, national security, and foreign policy, among other areas that a president should be knowledgeable about. Biden, on the other hand, has been in politics for many years; he was instrumental in many policies created during the Obama era. Biden should use his experience in foreign policy to appeal to voters who do not support Trump’s approach.
The last three years of Trump's presidency also show that he has a temperament problem. Trump has consistently displayed anger in public. Trump's tendency to lash out, even in the most inappropriate places (Lee, 2017). Americans now appreciate a calm and collected president, regardless of the president's party. The previous presidents shared the quality of remaining calm in public; showing judgement when speaking to supporters and adversaries and containing anger. A good temperament is necessary for the creation of effective policies and uniting Americans across the political divide.
As Joe Bidden and other 22 Democratic candidates prepare for the primaries; now is the time for Americans to contemplate on the kind of leadership they want. Trump appears to meet all the stereotypes of an ineffective leader. He is extremely critical, loud, defensive, and quick to blame others. Trump lacks self-awareness and humility, and he is always on Twitter, defending himself and insulting people he does not agree with (Kreis, 2017). Trump's behavior is not fit for a president, let alone the president of the most powerful nation in the world; yet 41% of Americans still support him. Biden should not underestimate the power of Trump as an incumbent, even when more than 50% of Americans do not approve of his presidency. Biden has to be strategic in his campaign to attract voters across the divide. Trump's poor leadership is an opportunity for Biden to shine. Trump has failed to exemplify good leadership; effective leadership requires character, experience, competence, and ability to generate positive and impactful results. Bidden can learn what not to do by observing Trump, but then he also has to appeal to Trump's followers if he wants to win.
References
Barkun, M. (2017). President Trump and the “fringe”. Terrorism and political violence , 29 (3), 437-443.
Bitecofer, R. (2019, Jan. 24). Why Trump Will Lose in 2020. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/opinion/trump-2020-election.html
Bouie, J. (2019, June 22). Will America Make Trump Great Again? The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/opinion/trump-2020-win.html
Campello, D., & Zucco Jr, C. (2016). Presidential success and the world economy. The Journal of Politics , 78 (2), 589-602.
Ghazal Aswad, N. (2019). Exploring Charismatic Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of the Rhetoric of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. Presidential Studies Quarterly , 49 (1), 56-74.
Ikenberry, G. J. (2017). The plot against American foreign policy: Can the liberal order survive. Foreign Aff. , 96 , 2.
Kreis, R. (2017). The “tweet politics” of President Trump. Journal of Language and Politics , 16 (4), 607-618.
Lee, B. X. (Ed.). (2017). the dangerous case of Donald Trump: 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assess a president . Thomas Dunne Books.
Motyl, M. (2014). “If he wins, I'm moving to Canada”: Ideological migration threats following the 2012 US Presidential Election. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy , 14 (1), 123-136.
