• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

West Haven Voice

West Haven’s only independent news source - By and For West Haven

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Archive
  • Advertise With Us!
  • Classified
  • Announcements
  • Contact Us
  • Web Exclusive
    • Kids Activity Pages

Biden-Trump Round II?

February 8, 2023 By whvoice

By Rich Lowry

Syndicated Columnist

America may not want a Trump-Biden rematch, but Donald Trump and Joe Biden sure do.

A CNN poll late last year showed that 6 in 10 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want a different GOP nominee in 2024, and a roughly similar proportion of Democrats hope for a nominee other than Biden.

Not that either man is inclined to pay any attention.

Trump wants revenge against a president who humiliated him in 2020 and who, with an approval rating in the mid-40s, would seem ripe for the picking.

Biden wants to run against a persistently unpopular, controversy-plagued former president whom he beat once before and used to great effect as a foil in the 2022 midterms.

Trump’s best argument is that his policies were better than Biden’s.

Biden’s best argument is that he’s not Trump.

It’s the weirdest, and most dispiriting, symbiotic relationship in politics. It’s the career politician soaked in conventional politics versus the upstart developer with zero respect for rules. The establishmentarian versus the populist. Boring versus erratic. And … unpopular versus unpopular, as well as, now that you mention it, old versus old.

If Biden stepped aside, Trump might feel a little less driven to run, whereas if Trump declined to run, Democrats would have to be much more nervous about how Biden would match up against a younger, less toxic opponent.

As it is, the weakness of each is a motivator and prop for the other.

Just consider: It’s probably a good rule of thumb not to run a presidential candidate who’s under federal investigation for mishandling classified documents. But does that rule hold when your candidate could well be running against another candidate also under federal investigation for mishandling classified documents?

Such are the imponderables that a potential Biden-Trump rematch presents. Both can point at the other and try to argue, in effect, “Hey, your special counsel investigation is much worse than my special counsel investigation.”

Trump tucked into this debate in his characteristic fashion. In a Truth Social post, he mocked Biden for having classified documents “on the damp floor” of his “flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured” garage, whereas Mar-a-Lago is “a highly secured facility.” (Of course, Biden famously insisted that his garage was locked — he has a classic Corvette to protect, after all).

Biden’s team and allies have made the opposite case that, in contrast to Trump, his mistakes were inadvertent and immediately reported to authorities. Regardless of the merits, there’s no doubt that Biden’s possession of classified documents materially assists Trump in his case; it might save him from indictment.

By the same token, Trump’s possession of classified documents materially assists Biden in his case; the discovery of the documents in Biden’s various unsecure locations may be a fiasco, but not one as drawn out and legally fraught as the Mar-a-Lago drama.

It’s a little like both parties running candidates in the 1972 campaign who had authorized break-ins, or in a 1980 campaign who had presided over double-digit inflation.

Now, it’s entirely possible that the second season of Trump versus Biden never makes it to production. Despite all signs indicating that he wants to run again, Biden might pull up short because he doesn’t feel up for it. For his part, Trump has a significant chance of winning the Republican nomination, yet it isn’t a gimme, and it shouldn’t help him that Biden and the Democrats so obviously want to run against him, just as they wanted to run against so many of his acolytes last November.

If the prospect of returning to 2020 is unappealing, look on the bright side: We never really left.

Trump has never let us forget that he lost to Biden (although he prefers to refer to it as getting the election stolen from him), while Biden has never let us forget that Trump is waiting in the wings.

Despite their enmity, both men want and need each other politically, whether that’s what the country is interested in or deserves, or not.

Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.

(c) 2023 by King Features Synd., Inc.

Filed Under: 020923, Lowry, Opinion

Primary Sidebar

Seach our site

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

Historian's Corner ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Historian’s Corner

westhavenvoice.com

Historian’s Corner May 21, 2025 By whvoice Leave a Comment The West Haven Veterans Museum on Hood Terrace is making an effort to acquaint city students and youth in the history of service in the cit...
1 week ago
View Comments
  • likes Like 1
  • Comments: 0
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Dear Felicia ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Dear Felicia

westhavenvoice.com

Dear Felicia May 22, 2025 By whvoice Leave a Comment Howdy do, sweets! Hard to believe, but here we are at the downside of May, looking into the Memorial Day weekend already. Of course, like most thin...
1 week ago
View Comments
  • likes Like 0
  • Comments: 0
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Pollution plant needs leadership, $$$ ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Pollution plant needs leadership, $$$

westhavenvoice.com

Pollution plant needs leadership, $$$ May 21, 2025 By whvoice Leave a Comment By Richard Hebert and Bonnie Posick Research by Kyle Rich West Haven residents have been vocal about the city’s revaluat...
1 week ago
View Comments
  • likes Like 0
  • Comments: 0
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

HS Frosh cited by Mullins ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

HS frosh cited by Mullins

westhavenvoice.com

HS frosh cited by Mullins May 21, 2025 By whvoice Leave a Comment Steven R. Mullins presents his 10th annual awards to WHHS frosh Bibi Hadi. Steven R. Mullins presents his 10th annual awards to WHHS f...
1 week ago
View Comments
  • likes Like 0
  • Comments: 0
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Load more

 

 

West Haven’s Calendar

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
West Haven Calendar
2 years ago
West Haven Calendar

Thursday Night Live (This one's on Friday!!!)

... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Thursday Night Live (This one's on Friday!!!)

tockify.com

Fri 23 Jun, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM [EDT]: Event by Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce, CT Old Grove Park Public · Anyone on or off Facebook West Haven summer concerts are back! Join us in West Haven thi...
View Comments
  • likes Like 0
  • Comments: 1
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

1 CommentsComment on Facebook

West Haven Calendar
2 years ago
West Haven Calendar

Mark Your West Haven Calendar

tockify.com/west.haven.calendar/detail/442/1686776400000

Business After Hours West Haven Veterans Museum
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Business After Hours West Haven Veterans Museum

tockify.com

Wed 14 Jun, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM [EDT]: Business After Hours West Haven Veterans Museum West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center Event by Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce, CT West Haven Veterans ...
View Comments
  • likes Like 0
  • Comments: 0
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

West Haven Calendar
2 years ago
West Haven Calendar

Added for June 10th & 11th

tockify.com/west.haven.calendar/detail/443/1686405600000

West Haven Historical Society Open House
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

West Haven Historical Society Open House

tockify.com

Sat 10 Jun, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM [EDT]:
View Comments
  • likes Like 2
  • Comments: 1
  • Shares: 0
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

1 CommentsComment on Facebook

Load more

Footer

Address

West Haven Voice
840 Boston Post Road
West Haven, CT

 

Contact us

Call (203) 934-6397

Contact form

SITE NAVIGATION

HOME
ABOUT US
ARCHIVE
ADVERTISE!
CLASSIFIED
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONTACT US
WEB EXCLUSIVE

FIND US IN PRINT

Our print edition is available each Thursday. Here is a list of locations!

Letters Policy

Information on submitting letters to us.

Our submission deadlines.

Copyright © 2025 West Haven Voice, LLC