Here we are, nearly midway through the Joe Biden’s term of office, the one that was supposed to restore normalcy after the chaotic Donald Trump years. But the consensus feedback from national polls is that our nation is headed in exactly the wrong direction on nearly every issue.

What’s happening? How could all have turned upside down suddenly?

If you pay attention to print, broadcast and on-line media, you might conclude that the source of all of our troubles is a guy who hasn’t been president for nearly two years, who will be 78 years old on Election Day in 2024, and who is likely not to ever be president again.

The drumbeat is incessant; all day long we hear Trump, Trump, Trumpian this and Trumpian that, the Trump cult, Trump-endorsed congressional candidates, Trump’s zombie followers, Trump’s iron-fisted control over the weak-kneed GOP. We hear blow-by-blow accounts of his malfeasance on 1/6/21, the barrage of legal actions leveled at Trump and his business associates, and his supposedly illegal stash of classified material at Mar-a-Lago.

In short, the Leftmedia and Democrat politicians (and we’ll include Liz Chaney here) insist that the former president is both the root cause of everything bad that’s happened to America and our greatest threat going forward. And they are pushing the narrative that the GOP is in full meltdown, consumed by internal war over Trump’s role as the party standard-bearer.

No doubt, Democrats would like nothing better than to face a dispirited, divided GOP in 2022 and 2024. But don’t bet on it.

Most Republicans are realists. They admire Trump’s tenacity, they agree with his positions on most issues and they appreciate his accomplishments as president; they also recognize the substantial damage he caused as he was leaving office, particularly his role in the disastrous, unnecessary loss of the Senate majority in the Georgia runoff elections.

Some fervently wish for a Trump return to power, while others feel that it’s time to move on. I’m in the latter camp; my column last week argued for a clean slate of 2024 presidential candidates as our best chance for a break from the rancor of the last two elections and a move to fresh leadership for the daunting challenges ahead. We’ll see how that works out.

But the Democrats’ wishful thinking about a self-destructive GOP ignores the reality that on both sides of the Trump divide, there is broad agreement on the imperative of a major course correction for America. Ultimately, that objective will carry the day among GOP voters.

Main Street Americans care little about party squabbles. They care about the critical issues facing our country. And on those, I believe a strong majority would agree with the following:

• Ours is a fundamentally healthy country. Democracy not in jeopardy. We’re not systemically racist.

• Sky-high Inflation is crushing American families. We see right through the patronizing charade of an “Inflation Reduction Act” that is nothing more than another massive tax and spend bill — exactly the opposite of the action needed to combat inflation.

• Our world is an increasingly dangerous place. To secure the peace we must build military capability second to none, and we must make it clear to our adversaries that we will use it if needed.

• We must regain control of our borders. It’s instructive to watch DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s frantic plea for National Guard help when a tiny fraction of the flood of illegal immigrants that have crossed our southern border suddenly show up on her doorstep in Washington.

• We need reliable, affordable electricity, using American natural resources. We cannot achieve orderly transition to renewables by abandoning the oil and gas that backs them up.

• We understand the long-term threat of climate change, but we also recognize mankind’s very limited ability to control it — and so we are unwilling to compromise our economic health in exchange for minimal, far-off and uncertain climate benefit.

• We detest the woke culture that is shredding traditional values, and we cannot tolerate American education brainwashing our kids.

Every one of those is a direct consequence of Biden administration policy. Every one demands change. For conservatives, reversing the nation’s course in these areas is job #1.

Democrats hope that they’ll be facing a badly fractured GOP in 2024, and they’re doing their best to make that happen. Regardless, the fact remains that the issues of concern to most American voters have little to do with Donald Trump.

The political fog can be disorienting and confusing, but I believe that American voters in 2024 will be crystal clear on what’s important for our country, and they will vote accordingly.