Ahead of the Republican primary in her state of South Carolina, former governor Nikki Haley’s odds against Donald Trump remain slim. Despite these prospects, she vows to remain in the race as long as possible. Trump remains in a solid lead despite being embittered in legal battles of his own and now concerns are emerging over whether he still has the personal finances to wage a repeat self-made/grassroots campaign that earned him the White House in 2016.

Despite this looming issue of funding and donors Trump remains steadfast, instead signaling his diverse yet calculated list of VP candidates including recently defeated rivals Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Representative Byron Donalds, former Hawaii Representative and former 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.  

On the other side of the aisle, Democrat-led legal proceedings into Trump’s role in 2020 electoral fraud in Georgia remain upset as evidence of illicit relations between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her colleague on the prosecution team distract and deter the proceedings, potentially undermining the entire case. Most damning is the recent release of the extensive by Special Counsel Robert Hur into whether President Biden mismanaged the handling of classified documents and intelligence.

The conservative Hur, appointed by Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland, found that Biden did not mismanage classified information but displayed extensive signs of metal decline. For 81-year-old Biden (the oldest sitting President in American history), the lingering question of his age and his mental fitness is poised to be the key defining issue of his re-electability: an issue he and his inner circle have chosen to address through angry dismissal and downplaying. It should also be noted that 77-year-old Donald Trump, if re-elected, would be the second oldest sitting President in American history.

As both Biden and Trump remain positioned for a rematch, the respective establishment political parties backing them must contend with the consequential but equal criticism of age, and instead are forced to turn the election into one of faith. Amidst an increasingly complex socio-cultural political division in the country, faith is not likely to be enough.