WASHINGTON, United States, Nov 2, (Net) – Democrats teed up final
get-out-the-vote rallies Monday on the eve of midterm elections where they
expect to win at least partial control of Congress and impose political
constraints on President Donald Trump for the first time in two years.
Rallies — including by star Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico in
Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas — were capping a campaign of breathtaking
tension and bitterness.
For his closing argument, Trump chose a speech in Washington at the Lincoln
Memorial Reflecting Pool — a landmark that has become synonymous with the
80-year-old president’s obsessive, controversial drive to redevelop the US
capital.
“We’re going to win,” he said on Sunday.
Polls, however, show that Democrats are near certain to take the majority
from Republicans in the House of Representatives and have a real shot at
winning the currently Republican Senate.
Even winning just the House would mean Democrats have voting power over the
federal budget and would lead powerful committees able to investigate alleged
corruption under Trump, the Epstein files and other explosive issues.
The loss of total Republican dominance would push Trump into unfamiliar and
uncomfortable territory: a lame-duck period beset with high inflation at
home, the sputtering war against Iran and hostile Democratic investigations
into his activities in Washington.
But a decade into the Trump era, Democrats remain wary about predictions of
victory.
“Nauseously optimistic,” Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told CNN to
describe the mood.
– Scorched earth –
Democrats are facing late internal divisions, with left-wing candidates
clashing at times with the party’s establishment.
In a startling display of infighting on Sunday, Democratic congresswoman
Haley Stevens in Michigan endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers against
left-wing progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in her state’s key Senate
race.
Trump was quick to praise Stevens for her “bravery”, posting on his Truth
Social platform that “Haley said what few people are willing to say.”
Stevens, who lost a bruising primary to El-Sayed in August despite being
backed by the Democratic establishment, struggled to explain her decision in
an interview with CNN.
“It’s just where I was at the end of the night and earlier this morning,” she
said.
Trump’s Republicans have fought a political scorched-earth campaign, painting
Democrats as communists and openly branding El-Sayed, who is Muslim, as a
terrorist.
Addressing a crowd in Iowa on Sunday, Trump said Democrats are “extreme and
dangerous radicals” who will “steal your wealth” and let in migrants to
“ransack, rape and plunder.”
But polls show Americans heavily souring on Trump’s wrecking-ball act.
An NBC News poll released on Sunday showed 60 percent disapprove of his
performance, particularly over high prices exacerbated by his now eight-
month-long war against Iran.
While the House seems highly likely to turn Democratic, the battle for the
Senate is up in the air.
Only a third of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested in these midterms,
and few of the races were seen as favorable to Democrats.
However, with surprisingly strong challenges in deeply Republican states,
pollsters now say the odds of a Democratic flip are at minimum even.
The final New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday evening showed Democratic
candidates leading in all seven seats viewed as most competitive, though five
remained within the margin of error.
A Democratic Senate would be able to shut down Trump’s lifetime appointments
to courts — including the Supreme Court.
While Tuesday is election day, early voting has already seen a record 54
million people cast ballots around the country.
The midterms have seen about $11 billion spent on advertising, with large
chunks coming from individual mega-donors.
Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who led the so-called DOGE effort in
dismantling entire government departments, has given a staggering nearly
half-billion dollars to help get Republicans elected.
