Migrants try to get to the U.S. through the Rio Grande. as seen from Matamoros, state of Tamaulipas, Mexico on May 11. A surge of migrants was expected at U.S.-Mexico border cities as the President Biden administration is officially ending its use of Title 42.ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images
They both are more than three-quarters of a century old. They both have been criticized inside their own parties. They both apply a rambling speaking style in the rumble of national politics. Joe Biden and Donald Trump need each other.
They need each other as sparring partners – neither is a plausible 2024 presidential candidate without the other. They need each other as foils – both stand out as dramatic contrasts from the other. They need each other for talking points – their preferred rhetorical riffs play off each other’s vulnerabilities.
They are the political equivalent of Tammy Wynette and George Jones in a 1972 hit: “Here we stand like strangers at the great divide.”
That seldom has been so clear as in the last several days, when the immigration crisis that helped power Mr. Trump into the White House became a fresh burden for Mr. Biden; when the former president appeared at a raucous televised town-hall meeting in New Hampshire; and when Mr. Biden responded to the Trump performance with a fundraising tweet that surely will be the leitmotif of his re-election campaign: “Do you want four more years of that? If you don’t, pitch in to our campaign.”
In the same week that Mr. Trump displayed the aggressiveness of the American buffalo at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, in one part of New Hampshire, a putative rival, Governor Chris Sununu, appeared in another part and, in remarks at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, gave a crisp summary of Republicans’ fondest desire in next year’s presidential campaign.
“If you vote for somebody, it has to be that they can win, and get something done,” said Mr. Sununu, who is in his third term in the state that will hold the first primary of the 2024 campaign. “That’s it. As a Republican – I’ll speak to the Republicans – you should vote for the most conservative candidate who aligns with our ideals and can win in November.”
Mr. Sununu emphasized the last three words – ”win in November” – for that is one of the principal questions Granite State voters will consider when they cast their votes next winter.
Mr. Biden’s rationale for seeking a second term at age 80 may be that he has unfinished work to complete, but at the heart of his campaign is the conviction that he alone can defeat Mr. Trump; he did it once, and he believes he can do it again.
Mr. Trump may have many motivations for seeking a second term – the thirst for power, perhaps, or the impulse of the narcissist – but revenge and redemption are certainly at the centre of his campaign; he argues, and perhaps believes, that he prevailed in 2020 and desires the prize he believes he is owed.
That was clear Wednesday night in his remarks before the crowd of New Hampshire Republicans and Independents, and it was clear that the audience shared that longing.
“It was striking how the crowd was cheering him on and bursting into laughter,” said Antoine Yoshinaka, a political scientist at the University at Buffalo.
A poll taken late last month showed Mr. Trump with the support of 42 per cent of likely New Hampshire primary voters, followed by Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida with 22 per cent – a rough reversal of the two men’s standing in January. Even so, the television audience response was not an accurate reflection of voter sentiment.
“That crowd was not representative at all,” said Andrew Smith, who directs the Granite State Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. “The kind of people who would want to go to something like that are probably Trump supporters. But it was good television.”
Mr. Trump’s town-hall performance was especially dramatic coming on the eve of the conclusion of the policy, in effect during the pandemic, that permitted federal officials to return migrants across the Mexican border before they were able to apply for asylum.
On the same day Mr. Trump appeared in New Hampshire, his campaign released a minute-long advertisement that clearly played off the immensely successful Ronald Reagan “Morning in America” ad. The 1984 clip showed a contented, prosperous country and concluded, “Under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder, stronger and better.’’ Then it asked, “Why would we want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?”
The Trump spot added a “u” to the word “morning.” Showing two images of Mr. Biden stumbling, it began, “It’s mourning again in America, and thanks to Joe Biden, our borders are open for all to come.” In another 1984 echo, it concluded with the narrator asking, “Why would we ever accept the incompetence and weakness of Biden when we could have the freedom, security and economic prosperity we enjoyed just three years ago?”
Mr. Biden apparently believes he and Mr. Trump are engaged in a secondary struggle, one in which his rival takes ownership of another line from the Wynette-Jones duo: “You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low.” Mr. Biden is betting that he wins that struggle. The question at the end of this week is whether that matters.
In photos: Migrants rush to U.S. border as Title 42 set to expire tonight
Migrant detentions at U.S.-Mexico border hit record highs as Title 42 ends