(ConservativeHub.com) – President Joe Biden may have a hard time having a successful reelection campaign if he falls victim to the historic trend, according to a report from Newsweek. Going into the 2024 presidential election, Biden will have the benefit of being the incumbent president. It is rare that the sitting president does not get reelected. The outlet reported that in the nation’s history, this hasn’t even happened a dozen times.
Biden is also facing opposition for the Democratic nomination, however. Notably, the only sitting president to have been elected and then denied the party’s nomination in the following election was Franklin Pierce. While statistically, this might make it appear as if the odds are in Biden’s favor, there is another trend that he may need to watch out for.
Since 1972, there has not been a single sitting president to have faced a major primary challenge who went on to win his re-election campaign. Biden is already set to face off against a number of primary challengers, including author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who announced that she would be running in the presidential primary for a second time. Another is Robert F. Kennedy, who also announced his presidential campaign. Finally, last week Cornel West, a leftist philosopher, also announced that he would be attempting to win the Democratic nomination.
While none of them have a huge amount of support, they have some voters in their favor. Recent polls have found that support for Kennedy is less than 20 percent, while support for Williamson is growing beyond the low-single digits. Biden has been facing significant criticism, even among members of his own party. According to Rick Shenkman, a presidential historian who spoke to Newsweek, the fact that other Democrats are moving in to challenge Biden may be a signal of “party discontent,” which could spell bad news for him in upcoming elections.
Copyright 2023, ConservativeHub.com
