The Double Haters. Will those that hate both Biden and Trump decide the 2024 election?

[AgnosticBoy]

It's common to hear people say that Trump is bad, therefore we should vote for Biden. But there are those like me that view his as both candidates are bad. Here's at least one label for such a group - the "Double Haters".

Meet the ‘double haters’ who could decide the election​

Many voters express resignation, dismay and anger over being asked to choose between Biden and Trump again in November

HUDSON, Wis. — Ask voters here in far western Wisconsin what they think of their two main presidential choices in November — the same two choices they had four years ago — and the answers, even tinged with Midwest nice, come out hard and blunt.
“Absolute trash.”
“Three-hundred-and-some-odd million people, and that’s all we can get?”

“Terrifying.”
“Both options suck. And it’s going to, I think, boil down to what sucks less.”

Now, these and other “double haters” — voters who are dissatisfied with both major party choices — are again pondering the same two options, and again are coming up largely disappointed.

These double haters are likely to prove a critical voting bloc in November. They are a group that could help determine the outcome in a close election, especially in critical swing states like Wisconsin, and one that has become the focus of considerable attention and outreach from both campaigns.

They are more likely to be younger, Hispanic or Black, and women living in larger cities or with no religious affiliation, according to a Washington Post-Schar School Deciders poll in six key states focused on the voters who will probably decide the 2024 presidential election.

But voters opposed to both candidates are not monolithic. Some mildly dislike both candidates, but have made peace with voting for the one they prefer. Others deeply disdain Biden and Trump, and seem incredulous that they find themselves choosing between “the lesser of two evils” — a phrase more than a half-dozen voters used in describing their Election Day calculus. And others plan to not vote or to opt for a third-party candidate, be it independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or someone else.

According to the Post-Schar School poll, most double haters in key states — both Deciders and non-Deciders — say they’re unlikely to vote for Trump or Biden in November; 53 percent say they will probably or definitely vote for Kennedy, while 25 percent say the same for Biden and 18 percent for Trump. That pattern could hurt Biden more than Trump — when asked which major party they lean toward, 55 percent of double haters lean Democratic while 45 percent lean Republican.

Source: The Washington Post

For Debate:
1. What's your view on the "Double Haters"? Isn't everyone a double hater to some degree, or do you really like one candidate?
2. Do you agree with the perspective in the article that makes the case for the double haters being the ones to decide the election?

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

It’s a problem.

And the voters in the middle almost always decide an election, right? And these voters are usually low information and low interest. They don’t know and they don’t care!

So, for people who had a high school government teacher, for example, who talked about the pros and cons of each candidate in very measured tones — well, it was probably an act even then. That person had probably already made up their mind.

But this is very rare out in the real world.


PS— I had a great 10th grade world history teacher. But a pretty so-so government teacher in 12th grade.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

And the voters in the middle almost always decide an election, right? And these voters are usually low information and low interest. They don’t know and they don’t care!

Yes, it's true that the independents that have no lean towards either party tend to be the ones that have little interests in party. Nowadays, it would seem someone would have to be nuts not to be polarized in one way or another as much as the political party leaders make every issue a hot button polarizing one... that is unless you stay out of politics!

However, these double haters aren't necessarily independent or even in the middle. Some in this group are Democrats and Republicans as well who are probably dissatisfied with their candidate choices and their performance for various reasons. I think even those in the middle or even independents can also be engaged in politics but dislike both parties or just the candidates for a given election also because of the poor judgement/performance of the candidates.

Example of a double hater who is also a Democrat:

But voters opposed to both candidates are not monolithic. Some mildly dislike both candidates, but have made peace with voting for the one they prefer. Others deeply disdain Biden and Trump, and seem incredulous that they find themselves choosing between “the lesser of two evils” — a phrase more than a half-dozen voters used in describing their Election Day calculus. And others plan to not vote or to opt for a third-party candidate, be it independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or someone else.

Standing behind the counter at an antiques shop in downtown Hudson, Kimberly Nelson, 55, of River Falls, Wis., described herself as a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020 but now feels “very sad — angry — that our two choices are like, ‘Do you want Stalin or Hitler? Which one? Which one?’”

She said she views both Biden and Trump as “very narcissistic, very God particle,” and that she blames Biden for “the genocide” in Gaza, while she views Trump as an “embarrassing” leader who is “not really aware of anyone other than himself.”

Source: The Washington Post

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Nowadays, it would seem someone would have to be nuts not to be polarized in one way or another as much as the political party leaders make every issue a hot button polarizing one... that is unless you stay out of politics!

unless you make a conscious decision to stay out of politics

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Nowadays, it would seem someone would have to be nuts not to be polarized in one way or another as much as the political party leaders make every issue a hot button polarizing one... that is unless you stay out of politics!

unless you make a conscious decision to stay out of politics

Speaking from experience, if you don't stay out of it, then it takes a lot of self-discipline to not get caught up by it and to not follow the same behaviors of the bad political leaders.