Are President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump running again because the White House is the finest assisted living facility on earth? That’s a joke that’s going around.

But is it a joke? Nikki Haley apparently doesn’t think so: “We have two hugely flawed candidates in Biden and Trump. And we all know why. Trump and Biden are two old men who are only getting older. We’ve all seen them fumble their words and get confused about world leaders. That’s not who you want in the Oval Office when Russia launches a nuclear weapon at our satellites or China shuts down our electricity grid. We’re talking about the most demanding job in human history. You don’t give it to someone who’s at risk of dementia.”

That’s harsh, but it’s what a lot of Americans are thinking --- despite the political bosses and their media buddies who keep telling us that Biden and Trump have already wrapped up their nominations. Am I the only columnist who still believes that there’s still a chance that neither Biden nor Trump will be the nominees?

Keep in mind that there are still more than eight months before election day. A lot could happen, such as:

• The polls show Trump winning the South Carolina primary with 65% of the vote. But could a weaker-than-expected victory for Trump in South Carolina began a shift in momentum toward Haley? Especially since even Trump supporters fear that his presence on the ticket could cause Republicans to lose the Senate and House in November. That’s their worst nightmare: Democrats winning the White House, Senate and Congress!

• Democrats, meanwhile, are increasingly nervous about polls that show Biden could lose to Trump in November. And that he’d lose by an even larger margin if he has to run against Haley. So will the party bosses insist that Biden step aside so the party can select a stronger ticket at their convention in August?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not predicting those outcomes, but simply stating that they could happen. Yet I also think both scenarios should happen.

Both parties could give us stronger candidates than Biden and Trump. And if they both did that, it would be good for the nation. Americans could have some inspiring choices to make in November, instead of having the depressing task of deciding which of the two major party candidates is worse than the other. Maybe we could even talk about real issues, instead of Trump’s latest trial escapades and outrageous statements, and instead of Biden’s latest stumbles and his son’s influence-peddling.

While Biden and Trump are flawed, elderly and clearly declining, that’s not all. As Haley points out, “They’re dividers at a time when America desperately needs a uniter. All they do is turn us against each other. Trump calls his fellow Americans vermin. Biden calls his fellow Americans fascists. Trump and Biden don’t just demand that people pick sides. They demand that their followers hate the other side. Look where that’s gotten us. Congress is too divided and broken to do its job. Families won’t even talk to each other at the dinner table. We’re separating into opposing camps that view each other as un-American, if not downright evil.

“These are dangerous times. We must regain our focus and shared sense of purpose. In the America I know and love, we can disagree without hating each other. We can still have a shared national purpose. We respect freedom and the rule of law, we refuse to use the awesome power of big government to punish those we dislike, and we recognize that America has done more good for more people than any country in the world. It’s not America First to withdraw from the world. It’s not America First to praise dictators who want to kill Americans. It’s not America First to bankrupt Social Security by doing nothing to fix it.”

To me, that sounds presidential. I’m glad Nikki Haley is staying in the race. She’d be so much better for the country than Trump. And the Democrats could do much better than Biden. So despite what the rest of the media keeps preaching, your humble columnist is still hopeful about the 2024 election.

Editor’s note: Joe Smyth is the author of Fixing America’s Broken Politics. A former journalist, he’s now retired, and the opinions expressed here are his own. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at joesmythaz@gmail.com and okeenews@iniusa.org.