The vote count is advanced tonight in the United States in the legislative and government elections that will mark the course of the country and of President Joe Biden and in which the trend of the economy, inflation and abortion have been decisive topics. The Republicans wanted to regain control of Congress. with a resounding victory, as the Democrats sought a worthy defeat that left them alive for the 2024 presidential election.
These mid-term elections, where traditionally the opposition party usually winsacquired crucial relevance due to the divisive context in which the country finds itself and against the backdrop of the last elections of 2020, when Donald Trump lost, denounced fraud and did not recognize his defeat, a mantra that continues to repeat today.
Just one thing from tonight: 34% of voters said Biden was not legitimately elected in the last presidential election, according to a CNN exit poll.
The Americans voted for Tuesday the renewal of the entire Chamber of Deputies (435 deputies), a third of the Senate (35 senators) and 36 governors, as well as various state and local authorities. Referendums on abortion rights were also held in four states: California, Vermont, Kentucky, and Michigan and others on the free use of marijuana.
The battle for Congress
Democrats currently hold control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, but polls predict that the Republican opposition will regain power in both. Republicans only need to add 5 deputies to the lower house e only 1 senator to get the majority.
The weighted average of surveys from the FiveThirtyEight site provides them an 84% chance of winning the lower house and a 55% chance of winning the upper house.
For now, the vote count was progressing in much of the country, but no definitive results were expected tonight, as the delay and tight elections in some key states delayed the process.
All the spotlight is on a handful of states with very close elections, the definition of which could tip the Senate in favor of Republicans: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Mindful of what happened in the last presidential election, which took four days to declare Biden won Trump, experts, including White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, agree that it could take “several days” see the final results.
Some data released last night reinforced the idea of an opposition advance because voters were very concerned about the economic trend, an issue Republicans blamed Biden on during the campaign.
A CNN exit poll found it 32% of voters said inflation was the most important issue in the elections, while 27% indicated that abortion was a decisive issue at the time of the vote.
It is the first election since the Supreme Court decision in June to overturn the Roe vs. Wade, which has guaranteed the right to abortion at the federal level since 1973. This decision has mobilized the democratic base that fears greater restrictions on this right. But the ultra-conservatives are also trying to extend the ban to all states.
The concern about inflation – today it is 8.2% per annum – is shaking the entire country, as the price index has reached a record not seen in 40 years. 75% of the respondents said the US economyS. things were not going well, while 46% said their financial situation was worse than a year ago and only 18% said it was better.
61% assured that the price of fuel – although it has now fallen, has exceeded $ 5 a gallon – was a problem for the family economy.
A quiet day
The vote went smoothly and without major incidents.despite the tense climate in which he lives and the threats to candidates and electoral authorities. Some incidents have been recorded in some districts such as Maricopa (Arizona), where problems with voting machines have occurred in some centers.
There were also complaints in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but they were initially common problems in the general election.
The Democrats have insisted on this in this election democracy was at stake. They denounce that the majority of Republican candidates who have competed for the House of Representatives, the Senate and senior positions in their states – 291 in total – have denied or questioned or denied the 2020 result, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.
A good portion of them will win and take positions that will be decisive for any electoral definition in the 2024 presidential election, the Democrats warn.
Republicans were thrilled last night to reach a “red wave” that would wipe out the entire country and gain control of both chambers as Donald Trump tried to jump on the winning bandwagon and announce his possible candidacy for the 2024. On Monday he said he would make a “very important announcement” next Tuesday.
But Trump has emerged as a contender for the primary: Conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has largely won his re-election tonightwhich is placed in the race for 2024.
At the White House, meanwhile, they tried to endure a “dignified” defeat. They had little hope of keeping the lower house, but there was some hope of not losing the Senate. They tried to detach Biden from the results by saying they weren’t a punishment for his agenda.
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki recalled in a tweet before the polls closed that Bill Clinton had lost 54 seats in 1994 and Barack Obama 63 in 2010 and were subsequently re-elected. But – it should be clarified – at that time there was no annual inflation of 8.2%.
Biden, close to turning 80, he said he was trying to compete for a second governmentso his duel with Trump could be reprinted in 2024.
But we will have to see what the second half of his term would be like if he were a “lame duck,” a president who rules with Congress against him. The results will undoubtedly have an impact on his policies, after two ambitious years of a progressive agenda, and will force him to rearrange his priorities.
In its first two years, Biden got laws passed to tackle the pandemic, rebuild infrastructure, tackle climate change and raise the nation’s competitiveness above China.
If the Republicans win control of Congress, struggles will break out over government funding and spending, support for Ukraine, and Republicans will try to change many of the passed laws.
Biden will also have to prepare for an avalanche of investigations and even possible impeachments on issues such as the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the handling of the pandemic. His ambitions for a second term could be complicated.
PB
Source: Clarin
