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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

Cooper: Whether it’s Trump or Biden, don’t look for next term to be truly consequential

The Associated Press / Whether former Vice President Joe Biden, pictured, wins the presidential race in the fall, or President Trump is re-elected, a divided Congress is likely to keep either from passing much far-reaching legislation.
The Associated Press / Whether former Vice President Joe Biden, pictured, wins the presidential race in the fall, or President Trump is re-elected, a divided Congress is likely to keep either from passing much far-reaching legislation. The Associated Press / Whether former Vice President Joe Biden, pictured, wins the presidential race in the fall, or President Trump is re-elected, a divided Congress is likely to keep either from passing much far-reaching legislation.

Chattanooga residents have plenty on their minds with the COVID-19 virus, what it’s done to the roaring economy and now the devastation wreaked by the Easter Sunday tornado and storms, but the November presidential election is about six and a half months away and the combatants all but in place.

Unless something drastic occurs, President Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden the Democratic nominee, two candidates who will be near or over 80 when their term ends.

We believe many people are like us, as we were in 2016, in wishing we had different choices. But by our primary votes and those of our fellow Americans, as in 2016, these are the two we chose.

As in any election involving an incumbent, the election will be a referendum on that individual. And Trump is certainly one of the most unusual presidents in U.S. history, so people naturally have strong feelings.

The president is loved and supported by many Americans in ways more than Barack Obama was by those on the left and Ronald Reagan by those on the right.