Now it’s all about the sausage for Joe Biden. Gang leader ‘Barbecue’ threatens civil war and genocide in Haiti

Thanks to Asterix, even non-Latins know the expression “alea iacta est”. In the battle for the American primaries, the die has finally been cast after Super Tuesday. Unless a miracle happens, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will engage in a revenge duel, even if a clear majority of Americans see none of it.

The president comes into this match with bad cards. His poll numbers have remained in “Carter territory” for months. This term refers to the fate of former US President Jimmy Carter, who was so unpopular at the end of his four-year term in 1980 that he lost badly to Ronald Reagan.

It is difficult to explain why Biden is so unloved. So far, he has mastered the most important task of a president with flying colors. The US economy has not only avoided the recession most economists predicted, but is humming along like there is no tomorrow. Be it stock prices, growth rates or unemployment rates, they are all in the deep green.

Moreover, Biden can demonstrate a political track record unlike virtually any of his predecessors. He pushed for a Green New Deal, eventually passed legislation through Congress to completely replace long-needed ailing infrastructure, and ensured that the industry of the future, chips, will be back in the U.S. produced.

None of this has had any effect so far. Biden’s popularity ratings remain around 40 percent, in ‘Carter territory’.

This is also due to the fact that most Americans generally don’t care much about politics. Only when the election campaign enters the hot phase do they seriously think about who they want to vote for. With the clarity of the candidates, this phase has now begun, and with the ‘State of the Union’ address the President has the opportunity to point out to his countrymen his merits and also how he wants to distinguish himself from his rival.

Thanks to his clear victory over Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, Trump is now confident of victory, especially since the latest polls show him with a slight lead over Biden. However, his euphoria could prove premature. Not just because he never managed to win the favor of a majority of Americans. His popularity ratings are also below 50 percent.

That’s not Trump’s only weakness. Here are four more:

Trump’s weaknesses are well known, including among his campaign team. But the president’s pathological narcissism is keeping them from doing anything about it. For example, to win back women in the suburbs, it would make sense to nominate Nikki Haley for vice president. It is very unlikely that Trump will do this. On the contrary, even though she has now thrown in the towel, he continues to mock and insult his most stubborn rival in his own party.

Biden has got his ideal opponent in Trump. The ex-president is the “best machine for getting ahead of Democratic voters at the ballot box,” as the “Wall Street Journal” mocks. Moreover, the upcoming elections will not only be historic, but extraordinary in every way. Both candidates are old and known to voters. Tony Fabrizio, an associate of the Trump team, explains in the Wall Street Journal: “There is little to nothing to say about Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the coming months that everyone doesn’t already know.”

In the same way, the United States has never seen a candidate like Donald Trump, a candidate who goes completely outside the norms. The experts are therefore overwhelmed. Elaine Kamarck, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution think tank, also explains in the Wall Street Journal: “I don’t know how to behave against such a rival. And I don’t think the Biden team knows either.”