Seven questions that will shape the 2024 election

Several issues are emerging that could become hotspots in the 2024 election as Republicans and Democrats seek to refine their messages ahead of successive presidential elections.

President Biden got into an argument with conservatives over Social Security and Medicare during his annual address to Congress, engaging in lively discussions with Republicans on the issue. And if the Democrats’ reports of key 2023 races like the Wisconsin Supreme Court are any indication, the party is also likely to lean on the abortion issue.

Meanwhile, would-be Republican presidential candidates are already delving into issues like immigration, education, and culture wars, especially those that target the LGBT community.

Here’s a look at seven questions that will shape the 2024 election:

Social Security and Medical Assistance

Biden talks about his administration’s plans to protect welfare and health care and reduce health care costs Thursday, February 9, 2023, at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky).

Biden was in the spotlight during this week’s speech, especially after he called on Republicans for previous proposals to abolish or reform eligibility requirements for Social Security and Medicare programs. Amid Biden’s speech, there is an ongoing fight over the national debt limit and Republicans’ insistence on spending cuts.

“Some Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to shut down,” Biden said before being interrupted by derision, including from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Georgia), who called him a “liar.”

One of the Republicans Biden alluded to was Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who last year unveiled a multi-point plan that proposed that “all federal laws expire in 5 years” and that “if the law costs Congress can pass it again,” a law that would affect both programs.

Scott defended his position in a statement after Biden’s speech, stating that “this is clearly and obviously an idea to fight all the crazy new laws that our Congress has been passing lately” and suggested that “the suggestion that this means I want to cut Social Security or Medicare is a lie & is a dishonest move.”

The President delivered the message during a visit Wednesday to a Wisconsin battlefield, where he spoke to residents about the merits of his economic plan.

“Many Republicans dream of cutting Social Security and Medicare,” Biden said in Badger State. “Well, let me say this. It’s your dream, but I’m going to – with my veto pen – turn it into a nightmare.”

Education

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens to others during a press conference as he spoke about new law enforcement legislation to be introduced at the upcoming January 26, 2023 session in Miami. (AP Photo/Martha Lavandieu, file)

Potential 2024 Republican nominees are also addressing the issue of education, including focusing on curriculum and parental rights over decisions made by schools.

This was most recently demonstrated last month when the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) rejected the Advanced Placement Course in African American Studies. The Florida Department of Education argued that “the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and is largely without educational value” and the College Board later revised some of the materials included in the course.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who was nominated as a possible presidential candidate in 2024, has made education a key component of his platform, including opposing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and advocating more parental involvement in the school curriculum. Critical racial theory, also attacked by DeSantis and other conservatives, is an academic framework taught at the graduate level that argues that racism is a systemic phenomenon in US institutions and government. However, it has become a buzzword for any teaching of race in schools.

During the midterms, other Republican candidates such as Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (right) also sought to focus on education, suggesting party members see it as a key victory issue.

abortion

Pro- and anti-abortion debate during the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 20, 2023. This is the first march since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Annabelle Gordon)

Democrats widely cite the abortion issue as the main reason they fared better than expected in November’s midterm elections, winning a real majority in the Senate and losing the House by a narrow margin.

Even in key races this year, Democrats are racing to bring abortion back into the spotlight, including in the race for a vacant seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which could define the Supreme Court’s partisan bias.

The state Supreme Court is likely to hear about Wisconsin’s contested abortion law of 1849, which provides no exceptions for patients unless the mother’s life is in danger. Prominent groups on both sides of the issue have said they will put money and resources into the race.

Foreign policy

A high-altitude hot air balloon flies over Billings, Montana on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. (Larry Meyer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

Revelations that a Chinese spy balloon flew over several US states, which spokesman Brig. General Pat Ryder told reporters that this week it was “part of a larger Chinese balloon surveillance program.” […] it has been in operation for several years,” drew angry remarks from both Democrats and Republicans about the country’s belated response to its destruction.

In particular, some Republicans, such as Green, have seized on the issue. Ahead of the State of the Union, she walked the halls of Congress with a white balloon meant to represent the Chinese spy balloon. She told The Hill this week after a secret briefing to members of the House of Representatives that she “teared” Biden administration officials “to pieces.”

The US confirmed on Friday that the military shot down a separate object flying over Alaska airspace.

Expect Ukraine to be another hotspot among the foreign policy issues being discussed. Some Republicans have expressed doubts in recent months about how much more US security assistance should be given to the former Soviet Union in the face of a Russian invasion.

Immigration

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the federal government armaments subcommittee, attends the first hearing on Thursday, February 9, 2023, which discusses the politicization of the federal government and attacks on civil liberties. (Greg Nash)

While immigration and the southern border are not necessarily new issues that Republicans have tackled on the campaign trail, that doesn’t mean the issue won’t feature prominently in the various campaigns and debate stages.

The first hearing that the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) began this year was called “The Biden Border Crisis – Part One.” The hearing came as the US reported more than 250,000 southern border clashes in December, according to US Customs and Border Protection, the most southern border clashes the Biden administration has grappled with since the president took office.

Section 42, a policy first introduced in 2020 by the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration, has also targeted Biden officials. This policy allows border guards to quickly expel migrants seeking asylum. While the Biden administration has sought to reverse this policy in the past year, they have also occasionally expanded its use.

Issues related to LGBTQ

With the US Capitol in the background, a man waves a rainbow flag as he attends a rally in support of the LGBTQIA+ community at Freedom Plaza on Saturday, June 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

Republicans have also not been shy about using legislation aimed at caring for gender, transgender girls and women competing in high school and college sports, and classifying drag shows.

Florida hit the headlines last March when DeSantis signed what opponents called the Don’t Say Gay Act, which would ban themes of gender identity and sexual orientation from teaching in the classroom by elementary school teachers. Subjects that are not “age or developmentally appropriate” cannot be taught by educators regardless of grade.

And South Dakota Gov. Christy Noem (R), another high-profile 2024 GOP candidate, is likely to sign legislation to stop healthcare providers from offering gender-affirming care to transgender youth.

Crime

(Getty images)

Turner says he would prefer Biden administration to be ‘happy’ about suspected spy balloons

The crime issue may not be new either, but some Republicans thought it worked well during the November midterms, arguing that other issues like abortion and the economy have diverted crime from what they hoped for. Others say it has helped key races stay competitive.

“Honestly, yes, Doctor. [Mehmet] Oz lost that race in Pennsylvania, but where did he start and where did he end up [was] a much closer race than in the summer. It was purely because of crime,” a GOP official told The Hill in December.

The crime issue is believed to have helped several New York City Republicans carve out key areas of the House of Representatives, helping to secure a GOP House majority.

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