The Patriot Post® · The Year of the 'Double Haters'

In the modern era of presidential elections, particularly with primary races coming earlier and earlier, oftentimes, the candidate embraced by a party upon clinching the nomination in the spring becomes November’s albatross as the excitement wears off. This “buyer’s remorse” manifests itself in fewer volunteers and contributions and makes the down-ballot contests more difficult for that party.

But what if many people in both parties feel this way? According to an Axios poll released this month, a full quarter of voters have unfavorable feelings about both candidates — the highest number since at least 1988, when George H.W. Bush ran against Michael Dukakis. As they opine, “The closely watched bloc has nearly doubled in size since 2020, making this fall’s Trump vs. Biden rematch the most dreaded election in modern political history.” And that’s an important point. While Donald Trump has maintained his share of #NeverTrump voters through all three of his elections, the negatives from Joe Biden come from his poor performance and his advanced age. The latter is the reason the media keeps reminding us that Trump recently turned 78.

This “double hater” voter bloc was the main focus of a lengthy Washington Post piece that looked at voters in the small town of Hudson, Wisconsin, soliciting their opinions on the race. “In Hudson,” the Post reports, “voters repeatedly mentioned both Biden’s and Trump’s ages as a concern, though many described the issue as more acute for Biden than for Trump. Otherwise, many voters cited either Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war or the economy as reasons they were loath to support him, while they said their reluctance toward Trump largely stems from issues of character and behavior.” Again, this is already baked into the cake for Trump, who has long been known for his willingness to shoot from the hip.

Regardless, this buyer’s remorse has been apparent since both candidates clinched their primary victories back in March. At the time, Joshua Green at BW Daily posted, “In the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of swing states, 52% of respondents said Biden is ‘too old’ while 59% said Trump is ‘dangerous.’” In that same time frame, ABC News did its own series of voter interviews with “double haters,” but noted, “In the ABC/Ipsos survey from earlier (in March), when asked if they’d trust Trump, Biden or neither to do a better job leading the country as president, 36% of Americans said they trust Trump to do a better job leading the country as president, while 33% trust Biden more — and 30% trust neither.”

With the unusually large share of voters hating their choices, the strategy is simple. For the Democrats, as expressed by their Astroturf “Indivisible” group, they claim, “Our strategy for 2024 hones in on two key voter groups: likely Democratic voters who are at risk of staying home and ‘double hater’ voters who have negative opinions of both presidential candidates. You might have already come across some of these folks among your friends, family, or neighbors. These are exactly the people we need to reach.” For these hard-left Democrats, their key issues are abortion and preserving “our democracy.”

On the other hand, Republicans are going to borrow from a famous Democrat and say, “It’s the economy, stupid.” There’s a reason it’s called “Bidenflation,” and if that weren’t enough, there are several other issues where voters demand a change: illegal immigration and its effects on crime and the economy; a failed foreign policy; and the two-tiered justice system that sees the Republican nominee convicted of trumped-up (pun intended) charges while political malfeasance allows Biden and his fellow Democrats to skate by.

While there is the third-party candidacy of Robert Kennedy Jr. to consider, it’s doubtful he will affect the race to the level of, say, Ross Perot in 1992. Even so, Democrats especially are trying to minimize Kennedy’s presence, even denying him Secret Service protection as a presidential candidate. CNN tried to explain that away by claiming, “A CNN review of presidential campaigns dating back to 1980 found that only then-Senator Barack Obama, who faced unique threats as a Black man with a realistic chance to become president, was granted Secret Service protection as early in a campaign as Kennedy is seeking it.” We would posit that Kennedy faces the unique threat of possibly denying the Democrats another term. Coupled with his family’s awful history of assassination, the denial of Secret Service protection seems utterly vindictive.

We have a lot of “double haters” now, but with the stakes as high as they are, they’ll likely hold their nose in November and vote. Let’s pray they choose wisely.