The 2024 presidential election will mark the first time I will be able to vote for president. Now technically, I have voted for a president before, if you count the mock elections at my grade school. Other than that, I have never cast a ballot in any official local, state or federal election.
I first registered to vote during my freshman year of college at North Arkansas College. The basketball coaches I played for at the time suggested that the team and I register to vote so we could qualify for in-county tuition. Later, my coaches and teachers encouraged me to vote at local elections in Boone County, Ark. I never got around to actually voting and I doubt any of my teammates did either.
This diffidence is reflected in my family. My father, an established grant-writer, entrepreneur and teacher says he does not vote. However, after a conversation, he says that he might register for this year’s election to vote for Robert F. Kennedy, an independent presidential candidate. Like Kenney, he believes the traditional two-party system is rigged.
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My mother, who holds a position at Amazon, has voted before. I well remember her taking me, eldest of her four children, to the polls during the 2012 elections so I could watch her participate in the voting process. Like me, she says that she has not been entirely up to speed on this year’s election. She says she will go to the polls only if she can find the time to research this year’s candidates.
Until now, I haven’t really been keeping up with politics. But I did my homework for this commentary, and I believe I know a lot more about the issues for this year’s election than I have in prior years.
Certainly there appears to be a lot at stake. Voter participation could be a key to who wins the presidency. As many as two-thirds (66%) of the voter-eligible population turned out for the most recent U.S. presidential election in 2020, according to Pew Research Center — the highest voter turnout in a presidential election in the 21st century.
The elections will notably come after controversies during and after Donald Trump’s first term in office. Those were his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the insurrection at the United States Capitol that occurred Jan. 6, 2021. There are also numerous criminal charges Trump is facing in four separate cases, in addition to some civil cases.
How do the odds stack up for President Joe Biden? For starters, he is currently a very unpopular president, with his current approval ratings of around 38% and disapproval topping 56%. These ratings have stayed relatively unchanged since 2022.
Why is Biden so unpopular? I actually find it somewhat unclear. Mostly it seems to center on his age and the economy.
You can point to the post-pandemic inflation that had grown to become a huge issue during Biden’s presidency. But inflation is a worldwide issue. The United States has the lowest inflation rate among G7 nations, inflation rates have been declining for over 12 months, and unemployment is near record lows. I like to believe that Biden has done a decent job in that regard.
While the economy is strong and growing, some people can find that claim difficult to reconcile with their own experiences. Especially if you’re an individual who has been laid off, or struggling to find a desirable job. Or if you are someone who saw an increase in the costs of groceries, services, appliances, rent. That’s a lot of people, myself included.
If it isn’t the economy, it is Biden’s age and health that comes into question. Biden is at an age (81) where deteriorating health is commonplace and his advancing age gives me doubt on whether he is even fit to continue being president now, let alone another four-year term. But according to Biden’s physician, he is “fit for duty” and there are no “new concerns” regarding his health.
As we approach the upcoming election, I will also research Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other third-party candidates, as well as continuing to research Trump and Biden. On election day, I want to be able to walk up to the polls and be certain of my vote.
If that vote happens to be third-party, then that will be the right vote for me. If there’s no candidate who I believe will provide a benefit to me, then I may not vote at all.
Calmese grew up in north St. Louis County and recently completed an associates degree at North Arkansas College. His commentary, sponsored by the River City Journalism Fund, is part of a series of op-eds in the Post-Dispatch this month from young local writers on the topic of voting. It will be shared at an event called Songs for Democracy 2024, a benefit for the League of Women Voters, June 24 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.