More seriously, I’m not really sure the individual President matters much in this. Based on reported election results, more Americans than not either chose him or sat the election out in indifference than voted against him. In an elected democracy, leadership is a reflection of the electorate’s will. Of course, not all Americans chose this, and it isn’t as big of a mandate as people seem to suggest given the close race, but it is telling.
In an alternate universe where he did not run in 2024, I’m not sure the results would be too different, but simply performed in a way that was less overt, if more banal. The best case for the Democrat voter interests I could see the Republican Party actually running at this point would be a W. Bush style candidate, and I’m not sure that would actually be much better as far as the rest of the center-right voters and those to the left of them are concerned, just easier to swallow.
In an alternate universe where he did not run in 2024, I’m not sure the results would be too different, but simply performed in a way that was less overt, if more banal. The best case for the Democrat voter interests I could see the Republican Party actually running at this point would be a W. Bush style candidate, and I’m not sure that would actually be much better as far as the rest of the center-right voters and those to the left of them are concerned, just easier to swallow.