[one_third]Liberal – Nicole Cheney
In November 2016, dozens of forecasts all called the same result: Donald Trump was going to lose the presidential election. ABC News predicted an electoral vote of 274 for Clinton to 188 for Trump, with 76 votes in toss-up states. NBC predicted a landslide 274 votes for Clinton and 170 votes for Trump (94 toss-up state votes), while NPR predicted a much more modest 274 for Clinton and 214 for Trump (50 toss-up votes predicted). The New York Times favored Clinton with an 85% chance of victory. The striking similarity among nearly every pre-election poll, of course, is that they were all wrong.
At the time, it was practically unthinkable that a television personality with no prior government or military experience would successfully win the presidency. The media frequently reported on Trump’s false statements; sexist, racist, and ableist actions; and other various illicit dealings, the least of which involve financial mismanagement. The major takeaway from this is to expect the unexpected.
Despite countless nationwide protests and months of whispered desires to begin impeachment proceedings, there is no reason to assert that Trump cannot win reelection in 2020. Trump not only has a loyal voter base and huge wealth backing his campaign, but has previously proven that anything is possible. Will he stay in office another four years? It’s impossible to tell. But canhe win reelection? Of course.
[one_third]Conservative – Mark Pothen
Barring some cataclysmic action from the Trump administration, I will be voting for president Trump’s reelection in 2020. Conservative individuals are not voting for the president on the basis of his atrocious record with women or dysentery of the mouth, but rather because of how far Democrats have swiveled to the left. Instead of addressing issues that matter to an overwhelming majority of Americans, they have become convinced that the loudest faction within their party must be appeased through radical policy. It has become apparent that Democrats have moved wildly out of step with the American public on a bevy of issues. Over the last three years alone, they have now openly embraced the radical position of Medicare for all, abortion up until the point of birth, the catastrophic Green New Deal, slave reparations, and the allowance of convicted murderers to vote. If Democrats wanted to secure a 2020 victory, they simply needed to remain less toxic than the president. After watching them fulminate over the Russia investigation and fight amongst themselves for the last three years, they simply can’t do it. There is also the fact that Trump has exceeded our expectations within his short tenure as president. President Trump has given Americans tax cuts, textualist judges, and tough immigration policy, all of which are objectively beneficial for all Americans. In this binary choice, I believe voters will forgo their distaste for Trump given the alternative is radicalism of the highest order.
Democratic legislatures moving in the direction of abortion till the point of birth, as well as senators openly defending the policy.
[one_third]Independent – Daniil Ivanov
President Trump has received abundant criticism from the media and has had a presidency mired in controversies. He oversaw the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and has received allegations of Russian connections since before he was even elected.
However, according to FiveThirtyEight—a project that compiles presidential approval rating surveys—Trump currently has an average approval rating of 41.4%. At the same point in his presidency, Obama had an approval of 45.1%—a mere 3.7% difference.
In Trump’s presidency, the GDP grew 2.2% in 2017 and 2.9% in 2018, compared to 1.6% in 2016 when Obama was still in office. The NASDAQ and Dow Jones also continuously hit record highs. The unemployment rate also dropped from 4.7% when Trump was inaugurated to 3.8% this March.
Overseas, the United States has had peace talks with North Korea, ISIS is a shell of their former selves and no longer occupies any land, and the United States has yet to enter into any new wars.
Though all of these facts and figures can be argued, attributed to Obama-era policies, or happen regardless of who sits in the Oval office, they still paint a positive image of the last two years.
There also comes the likely possibility that Trump will have an easy primary race—either running unopposed or with minimal competition. On the other hand, whoever the Democratic candidate will be must first run through the gauntlet of Democratic primaries, where political heavyweights like Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders will likely be in fierce competition. The worry there is that the Democrats will tear each other apart before any of them ever makes it to the debate stand with Trump.
When it comes to the quality of Trump as president, there is much contention.
