Donald Trump met expectations on Monday by winning the Iowa caucus with a majority of the vote and barring a political shakeup unmatched in the nation's history, he's going to end up the Republican nominee for president in 2024.
SEE: Donald Trump Addresses His Supporters Following Iowa Caucus Win
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Democratic Party essentially rigged their primary to ensure Joe Biden wouldn't face any real challenge at all as an incumbent. That included shunning New Hampshire by disqualifying its delegates and ensuring South Carolina, a very Biden-friendly state, would vote first.
In other words, the rematch is on, but is that what Americans want?
If you browse opinions online, you'll often see people say it's not. As the story goes, most Americans don't really want to run back a battle between two men hovering around 80 years old, one facing multiple indictments and the other facing multiple claims of corruption. To that effect, there's some polling to back up that idea.
Politico penned a piece in December entitled "Most Voters Don't Want a Biden-Trump Rematch. This is Why." The Hill followed suit with an article stating "The United States is barreling toward a 2024 rematch between President Biden and former President Trump that few Americans want to see." The latter cited a late November poll by AP-NORC that found sizable majorities of Americans don't want either Trump or Biden to run again.
Is that true, though? I'd suggest it's not, and it's part of a pattern of press outlets and politicians pretending that voters don't have agency.
Think about it. If a sizable majority of Americans didn't actually want a Biden-Trump rematch, wouldn't they just...not vote for them in the primaries? It's not like both men are just going to magically appear on ballots in November. There is an entire process currently playing out, and that process includes the ability to ensure both are retired. That's not happening, though, is it? Instead, Trump and Biden will both easily win their party nominations for president.
What does that tell you? It tells you that voters may like to sound contrarian in public, but when they get into the voting booth, they tend to return to the status quo. There's a reason incumbency is such a strong factor. Everyone talks a big game about "change" and "moving forward," but rarely does that happen unless term limits force it to happen.
The point is this. For all the talk about what Americans "really want," it's clear that those voting want a rematch between Biden and Trump. If they didn't, one could be easily avoided. It won't be, though, because those polls and those opinion pieces are nonsense. Those who bother to vote in the primaries want a rematch, and those who don't want a rematch can't be bothered to show up and vote against one. Thus, the decision has been made.
There's this innate desire among some to delude themselves into thinking American voters are somehow distinct from their politicians. For example, we often see that asserted about Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is broadly unpopular with conservatives across the country. He wins, though, and he doesn't win because of some voodoo spell. He wins because the voters choose him, and no one is forcing their hand.
In the end, the politicians who are nominated and elected are a representation of the voting public. That makes some people uncomfortable, but that's the reality. In 2024, voters want a Biden-Trump rematch, and that's what they'll get.
