WASHINGTON – Gonzaga University professor of political science Sarah James is keeping track of the presidential race closely. She’s looking out for the impact of digital fundraising and white rural voters moving into November.
In a Friday interview with NonStop Local KHQ, James offered expert analysis on the important themes of this year’s presidential race, and President Joe Biden’s historic dropout from the presidential race.
She compared Biden’s departure from campaigning to President Lyndon B. Johnson leaving his own race in late March 1968.
“LBJ stepped down in…March of his reelection year, so there was more time to get another candidate up and running. This is certainly the closest to an election a candidate has stepped down,” James said.
While Johnson and President Joe Biden are figures divided by decades of political history, Biden’s with both men saying that they were choosing not to move forward for the sake of their country.
“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down,” Biden said.
Both Biden and Johnson’s political careers folded not because they lost the support of voters or their opposition, In each case, the president faced an evaporating well of support from allies upon whom they had relied for years.
James went on to explain the potential reasons that Vice President Kamala Harris is highlighting and the way that the 2024 election contest differs from past cycles.
As former President Donald Trump James is additionally interested in how Evangelical voters could shape this election cycle.
At a Friday campaign event in Florida, Trump told a group of religious voters that if he is elected this year, there may not be another election.
“We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote,” Trump said.
As Harris works to position her campaign for a win in November, James says political observers should prepare for a potential shift in the Republican Party if Trump fails to secure a second term.
“I expect that we will see a real reckoning…A lot of people who did not like him backed him because he was winning, and he hasn’t really won [since 2016],” James said.
