Op Ed: North Carolina Must Choose Wisely on March 5th
By Guillermo Estrada
As our state’s March 5th presidential primary approaches, North Carolinians will be faced with an important choice. After the last few years of record inflation thanks to wasteful government spending, a broken immigration system, and the American energy spigot being turned off, it’s obvious that the Biden administration is not up to the task of effectively leading our country. Americans are ready for new leadership, and the time to decide here in our state will be here before we know it. And while it’s been made abundantly clear that President Biden is the wrong choice, now we need to decide which candidate is the right choice to get our country back on track.
The Tar Heel State has played an especially critical role in recent presidential elections. We live in an important battleground state, and America will be watching to see who we choose. That being said, in the last 11 out of 13 presidential elections, Republicans have carried our state. The majority of these have been hard-fought races, and Republicans won’t win the White House in November without a fight…or the right candidate.
According to a UNC poll, 36% of our state’s voters are unaffiliated, a larger percentage than either registered Republicans or Democrats. That means whoever wants to win the Republican nomination in our state is going to need to appeal to the middle just as much as traditional conservatives. And while former President Trump won North Carolina in 2020, it was by a slim margin, and so far in this election cycle, he has done little to nothing to win over our state’s middle-of-the-road voters who are going to be instrumental in the coming election. In fact, they could be the deciding factor for us. But Trump’s unwillingness to cater to anybody but his own base shows that he is the same candidate he was in 2020. And if that’s the case, it means he’s the same candidate who was defeated by President Biden.
President Biden’s poor job performance speaks for itself. Republicans have a serious chance to take back the White House, but it’s going to require the right candidate who can appeal to not just conservatives, but moderates and independents as well. While former President Trump may energize his own base, he also energizes Democrats to go out and vote against him. If we want a new commander-in-chief, America needs to choose someone who can actually beat Joe Biden, and history has proven that’s not Donald Trump.
*The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of NC Political News.
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