'Like choosing between a hedgehog or a porcupine' The presidential election rematch no one wants

In past years, the first phase of the general election has involved at least one of the presidential nominees introducing themselves to the public and presenting their case for taking the US in a new direction. But that has been rendered unnecessary this year: former president Donald Trump and president Joe Biden are very familiar to the electorate and are broadly unpopular.

- Joan E Greve

"I think this is the worst election in my lifetime," said George Argodale, a Nikki Haley supporter from Gainesville, Virginia. "It's just terrible that we don't have better candidates."

"That's a sad state of affairs for our country that those are the two best candidates that we can come up with," agreed Peggy Hudson, a primary voter in Charleston, South Carolina.

Judith Smith, from Moncks Corner, South Carolina, said of Biden and Trump: "That's like choosing between a hedgehog and a porcupine."

As the primary season sputters to an expected ending, following Haley's withdrawal from the Republican primary last week, voters' frustration with their election options is palpable.

According to Five Thirty Eight's polling averages, Biden's approval rating stood at 38.1% last weekend, and Trump's rating rested at a nominally stronger 42.6%, meaning both men are disliked by a majority of Americans.

Those low opinions have carried into voters' views on the general election. A YouGov-University of Massachusetts Amherst poll conducted in January found that 45% of Americans believe a Biden-Trump rematch is bad for the country. Another 26% say the rematch is neither good nor bad, while just 29% view it as good for the nation.

It's not all for the same reason; the many voters lamenting their general election options represent a diverse array of ideological perspectives, ranging from anti-Trump Republicans to progressives outraged over Biden's response to the war in Gaza.

"On the whole, there's a lot of ambivalence and disappointment about the prospects of a rematch," said Jesse Rhodes, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "There's a widespread perception among those individuals that the candidates are too old and that they tend to focus on issues that are issues of yesterday."