Like it or not, the 2024 general election season is underway. Sure, the party conventions are a ways off, and there are serious doubts about whether Joe Biden will make it to the election, or even to the convention. But as for the state of the race today, we are facing a rematch of 2020, with "Dominating Donald" Trump in one corner in the gold-plated trunks, facing off against "Jolted Joe" Biden in the opposite corner, in Depends.

The Washington Times' David N. Bossie has some thoughts on how the Trump campaign is looking to expand the former President's electoral map, and while he makes some good points, I think he's missing a couple of things.

First, the comparison with the 1980 election:

There are many similarities between the disastrous presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Mr. Biden. During Mr. Carter’s one term in office, our country suffered from a crisis of confidence just like today. During Mr. Carter’s 1980 reelection campaign, America’s economy was in horrible shape, and we were getting our clocks cleaned on the world stage by the Soviet Union and Iran. 

In that election, voters soundly rejected the idea of giving Mr. Carter another four years to figure it out. There was a sense of urgency to solve our problems, just as there is today. And there’s no one better at finding solutions and getting things done fast than Mr. Trump. Moreover, Mr. Trump has a four-year record of accomplishment on these very issues.

There are two major differences, however. First, James Earl Carter was not visibly and obviously suffering from a mental and physical breakdown. He did face a primary challenge from the left, in the form of Edward Kennedy, and he presided over double-digit inflation and skyrocketing interest rates. But he was not, unlike today's incumbent, non compos mentis.

Second, Carter's opponent, Ronald Reagan, was quite a different proposition than Donald Trump. Where Trump can be short-tempered and prickly, Reagan was indefatigably cheerful; but while Reagan made a great deal of his case for the presidency based on his two terms as Governor of California former President Trump has the advantage of an apples-to-apples comparison. He actually was President of the United States for one term. He has that record to run on, and frankly, that has to be disconcerting to the Biden people when you compare each man's performance on major issues, like the economy and illegal immigration.

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Next, Mr. Bossie places Minnesota as possibly in the Trump column in this fall's election - that's one of the longest long shots since the Battle of Rorke's Drift. This just doesn't seem likely, even with the possible (and maybe likely) third-party challenges.

Because of Mr. Biden’s horrendous policies, however, Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes will also be in play. First, in 2016, Hillary Clinton carried Minnesota by just 44,000 votes against Mr. Trump even though he barely campaigned there. And the fact that a whopping 18.9% of voters chose “Uncommitted” in Minnesota’s recent Democratic presidential primary could be a sign of things to come. The Muslim American community’s opposition to Mr. Biden’s foreign policy in the Middle East will be a huge factor in Minnesota.

In the 1992 presidential election, businessman Ross Perot received nearly 24% of the vote in Minnesota, which allowed Democratic challenger Bill Clinton to win the state decisively over President George H.W. Bush.

This year, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and a member of the famous Democratic political family, will almost certainly be on the ballot in Minnesota, siphoning votes from Mr. Biden, the unpopular incumbent.

You can place me firmly in the "skeptical" column about the chances of Donald Trump taking Minnesota this fall, no matter what third-party candidates may be muddling things up. As far as Minnesota's Muslim community, a big part of that is the Somali community in Minneapolis; this is, I remind you, the constituency that gave us Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Kennedy may siphon some votes from Joe Biden, but will it be enough for Minnesota as a state to overcome the great blue dots of Minneapolis and St. Paul?

However, in his conclusion, Mr. Bossie gets the big one right:

At the end of the day, the 2024 election will be a binary choice between the successful policies of Donald Trump and the failed policies of Joe Biden. The contrast could not be clearer.

That much is certain. But I don't think, given the way things stand at the moment (and, yes, November is still a long way off) the 2024 election is more likely to be a repeat of the 2000 election than the 1980 election. It will be close, fought to the bitter end, and, yes, I expect 2020-style shenanigans. As of this writing, were I on the Trump campaign, I'd be feeling pretty good about the prospects, but those people, as well as the new RNC staff, should be planning and preparing to fight this thing down to the last moment.