Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The 2024 election pits No. 14 against No. 45

Opinion

President Biden speaking in the House chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Mike Johnson behind him

President Joe Biden delivers the 2024 State of the Union address, which took on a very political tone as he prepares to face former President Donald Trump in November.

Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.

Conventional wisdom, verified in conversations with your neighbors, friends and even strangers, holds that contemporary American politics is deeply polarized. Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace notes, “Some scholars claim that Americans are so polarized they are on the brink of civil war.”

But the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and ensuing lawsuits prove that a political civil war already exists. The headline of a Bloomberg op-ed political writer Francis Wilkinson, sounds a clarion bell: “ The Only US 'Civil War’ Will Be a War on Democracy.”

These alarms are nothing new. Research by the American Political Science Association notes that divisiveness started in the Senate in the mid-1950s and in the House of Representatives 20 years later. The presumptive 2024 presidential candidates are not liked by 60 percent to 70 percent of the voters. Both reference the Nov. 5 election as a democracy-versus-dictatorship decision point.


Gallup noted in January that 43 percent of voters consider themselves independent and the Republicans and Democrats equally divide the remaining population. Odds are the GOP lemmings will vote – regardless of research and legal findings – for Donald Trump and the Democratic Party conformists will vote for Joe Biden. The independents, who do their research, will determine who will lead America for the next four years.

Odds are also great that political parties will most likely tell their card-carrying members and foes from the “other side” a combination of disinformation, misinformation and propaganda – hoodwinking in orientation – and a smattering of truth.

Much of the time during political races we’re bombarded with massive and even conflicting information. No matter how hard we try, it’s difficult – if not impossible – to decipher truth from fiction. It’s during turbulent times like these where freethinking citizens seek voting guidance and defer to experts’ opinion.

Social science experts in political science and politically oriented research scholars participated in a late-2023 study, titled “The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey,” that ranked the presidents and gave some insight into experts’ thoughts on this election.

Here are the paramount research findings from specialists who study American presidents for a living that should give voters some compelling guidance:

  • Biden was ranked as America’s 14th greatest president; Donald Trump came in dead last at No. 45. (FYI: The United States has had 46 presidents with Grover Cleveland serving as the 22nd and 24th; researchers count him just once.)
  • Experts in presidential politics who identified themselves as conservative-oriented and Republican ranked Biden considerably higher than Trump for presidential effectiveness.
  • Trump was identified – by far – as the most polarizing president, seven spots higher than Biden.
  • Biden was acknowledged as the sixth most under-rated president while Trump came in eighth on the overrated list.

Research conducted in 2022 by the Siena College Research Institute – revered for their unbiased research and valid findings – corroborates the APSA’s findings. The institute ranked Biden as the 19th best president and Trump as – again – No. 45.

As the Los Angeles Times noted, should a Biden-Trump rematch occur, voters will be in that unique position of knowing how both candidates performed while they were in office to protect and defend America.

Between now and Nov. 5, be independent – like nearly half of the voters – and do your homework. Choose the candidate who you are convinced will demonstrate accepted norms of presidential leadership, keep America as the leader of the free world, preserve our constitutional rights, promote bipartisanship, respect laws of the land and the judicial system, keep our global trade alliances, support our military, stand up against CRINK (China, Russia, Iran and North Korea), and maintain America as a democracy versus falling into dictatorial-authoritarian control.

What would you be most proud of telling your family 10, 15 or 20 years from now? That you blindly followed the order of your preferred political party in the 2024 presidential election, didn’t vote or were a freethinking voter who seriously researched the candidates and determined America’s future?

Read More

How Billionaires Are Rewriting History and Democracy
Getty Images, SvetaZi

How Billionaires Are Rewriting History and Democracy

In the Gilded Age of the millionaire, wealth signified ownership. The titans of old built railroads, monopolized oil, and bought their indulgences in yachts, mansions, and eventually, sports teams. A franchise was the crown jewel: a visible, glamorous token of success. But that era is over. Today’s billionaires, those who tower, not with millions but with unimaginable billions, find sports teams and other baubles beneath them. For this new aristocracy, the true prize is authorship of History (with a capital “H”) itself.

Once you pass a certain threshold of wealth, it seems, mere possessions no longer thrill. At the billionaire’s scale, you wake up in the morning searching for something grand enough to justify your own existence, something commensurate with your supposed singularly historical importance. To buy a team or build another mansion is routine, played, trite. To reshape the very framework of society—now that is a worthy stimulus. That is the game. And increasingly, billionaires are playing it.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Roots of America’s Violence:
White Supremacy, Power, and the Struggle for Dignity
Ragiv:Charlie Kirk in Tampa July 2025 (cropped).jpg - Vükiped

The Roots of America’s Violence: White Supremacy, Power, and the Struggle for Dignity

In September 2025, activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Utah campus event. His death was shocking — not only for its brutality, but because it showed that political violence is not just a relic of the past or a threat on the horizon. It is part of our national identity. Today’s surge in violence follows patterns we’ve seen before. Let’s take a look at that history.

When Pope Alexander VI issued the Doctrine of Discovery in 1493, he gave theological and legal cover for European conquest of lands already inhabited by indigenous people. These papal bulls declared non-Christian peoples “less than” and their lands open for seizure. This was more than a geopolitical maneuver — it embedded into the Western imagination a belief in the inherent supremacy of some over others.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Noosphere Is Here–and the Struggle for Its Soul Now Runs Through Musk, Putin, and Trump

The noosphere is here—and it’s under siege. This essay explores how Musk, Trump, and Putin are shaping the global mind through Starlink, X, and cognitive warfare.

Getty Images, Yuichiro Chino

The Noosphere Is Here–and the Struggle for Its Soul Now Runs Through Musk, Putin, and Trump

In the early 20th century, two thinkers—Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky and French Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin—imagined a moment when humanity’s collective consciousness would crystallize into a new planetary layer: the noosphere, from the Greek nous, meaning “mind.” A web of thought enveloping the globe, driven by shared knowledge, science, and a spiritual awakening.

Today, the noosphere is no longer speculation. It is orbiting above us, pulsing through the algorithms of our digital platforms. And it is being weaponized in real time. Its arrival has not ushered in global unity but cognitive warfare. Its architecture is not governed by democracies or international institutions but by a handful of unaccountable actors.

Keep ReadingShow less
2025 Democracy Awards Ceremony Celebrates Bipartisan Excellence in Public Service

The Democracy Awards Ceremony hosted by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) on Thursday, September 18, 2025

Credit: CMF

2025 Democracy Awards Ceremony Celebrates Bipartisan Excellence in Public Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) hosted its annual Democracy Awards Ceremony on Thursday, September 18, recognizing exceptional Members of Congress and staff who exemplify outstanding public service, operational excellence, and innovation in their work on Capitol Hill.

In the stately House Ways & Means Committee Hearing Room, the 8th annual Democracy Awards ceremony unfolded as a heartfelt tribute to the congressional offices honored earlier this summer. The event marked more than just a formal recognition—it was a celebration of integrity, dedication, and the enduring spirit of public service.

Keep ReadingShow less