Now that we are back to work, back to school, and Bowl Season is over, who is still looking for a 2024 New Year’s Resolution that will make a difference? How about one that will help you, your family, and America — vote in your presidential primary election
With seven out of 10 Americans feeling that America is headed in the wrong direction and the two leading presidential candidates at almost 60 percent unfavorability, it is time for Americans to get to the ballot box, twice if you can.
How is it, in a representative democracy, that two candidates rise to the top, both of whom the majority of Americans do not like and do not trust? Is our democracy broken? No, our democracy is not broken, it is just not being used — especially in presidential primary elections.
Pop Quiz: When is the presidential primary in your state? Can you vote in it?
“In U.S. elections since 2000, the average turnout rate for primary elections is 27 percent of registered voters,” according to States United Action. Note that this is “registered voters,” not eligible voters.
In 2020, just 262,336 South Carolinians voted for President Biden in the South Carolina primary. That means that a mere 6.5 percent of the nearly four million eligible voters in South Carolina launched President Biden into the White House in 2020. Voter participation in the single digits occurs in presidential primaries all across the country every four years. This is how we end up with two candidates the majority of Americans do not want.
So, what is the play to get a presidential candidate on the ballot in 2024 that Americans actually want to vote for instead of just voting against the other guy? “We the People” simply need to vote in our primaries. The good news, whether you are a seasoned primary voter first-timer, whether you are registered with a political party or not, is that there is still time for just about every American over 18 to take the necessary steps to vote in their state’s presidential primary.
There are three candidates with a statistically relevant chance to be our next president: President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and Ambassador Nikki Haley.
How should we go about ranking these three contenders? Well, although Bowl Season is over, it’s still football season. So, may I suggest we borrow some criteria from the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee — namely performance in the arena, strength of conference, and quality wins — to compare the contenders.
- President Biden: His actions, his policies and his age have led to a dismal 39 percent approval rating. Biden appears infirm, and he and his cabinet have pushed bad policies that delivered bad results for Americans. Americans can afford less, are less safe, and live in a less secure country in a less secure world than they did four years ago. Additionally, President Biden is from a non-Power 5 Conference.
- President Trump: 64 percent of Americans have stated that they won’t, or probably won’t, support President Trump in 2024. Even though Trump’s administration implemented many good policies that produced good overall results for many Americans (four years ago, on the precipice of the COVID pandemic, a Happy Meal was affordable, mortgage rates were three percent, the border was controlled, and war was not raging in Europe or the Middle East), President Trump continually puts Trump above country in actions and words. Americans seemingly have had enough of President Trump’s ego, his actions, and the chaos he brings. Eight seasons ago, President Trump had a great quality win on the road, but the competition in his own conference has passed him by.
- Ambassador Haley: Recent polls show Nikki Haley defeating President Biden by 17 points in a general election, while Trump vs. Biden is basically a toss-up. Haley listens to voters, works to understand their concerns, and focuses on policies that will help Americans. She has a proven track record of success tackling both domestic and national security issues as governor of South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations. On a generational note, Nikki Haley was not yet born when President Trump was handed his dad’s company (1971) and was a year old when President Biden received his first paycheck as a U.S. Senator (1973).
President Biden and President Trump have had the opportunity in the presidential arena and proved that neither has the competence, character, or moral compass to be our next president. On the other hand, Haley displays the wisdom, leadership, compassion, and patriotism required of a president on a daily basis.
Clearly, Nikki Haley is “unequivocally the best” candidate.
Americans have a choice to make over the next three months: Do “We the People” want to move beyond the Trump-Biden soap opera and elect a President we are excited to vote “for” and who will actually strive to “form a more perfect union,” or are we content to watch a bad rematch between two candidates well past their prime and experience four more years of court cases, corruption, impeachments, gaffs, stumbles, and fumbles.
It is fourth and three, and America must convert. So get out there and Primary Like a Champion in 2024.
Tom Weiler is a 20-year veteran of the Submarine Force. He completed multiple submarine and aircraft carrier deployments across the INDO-PACIFIC and Middle East, as well as tours at the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, Pacific Fleet, and US European Command. His is a graduate of Notre Dame, Harvard, Old Dominion, and National Defense University. Following retirement from the Navy, he ran for U.S. Congress in 2022 in Minnesota-03 and is now a national security professional.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.