Divided America awaits verdict on Joe Biden
WASHINGTON (MNP) – A sharply polarised United States on Tuesday (Nov 8) braced for a tense night of election results that will determine control of Congress and the future of President Joe Biden s agenda.
A Republican victory could pave the way for a White House comeback bid by Donald Trump – who returned to his playbook of airing unfounded claims of fraud after a campaign fought largely over economic issues.
Biden, whose Democrats face a steep climb to hang on to the House of Representatives and Senate, has warned that Republicans pose a dire threat to democracy with more than half their candidates repeating Trump s debunked claims of cheating in the 2020 election.
With razor-thin margins in key races, a full picture may not be available for days or even weeks, setting the stage for acrimonious challenges.
In his final pitch, Biden vowed that the Democrats would defend retirement, health care and the freedom to have an abortion, after a Supreme Court transformed by Trump rescinded the right to choose.
“It s all on the ballot. This election is too important to sit out,” the 79-year-old Biden tweeted in a last-minute bid to drive voters to the polls.
But the president s party has traditionally lost seats in midterm elections and Biden s favourability ratings are hovering in the low 40s, with Republicans hitting him hard over stubbornly high inflation as well as crime.
The first polls closed at 6pm in Indiana and Kentucky, where Republican senators were expected to cruise to reelection.
All eyes will be on a handful of closely fought Senate races including in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio, with a single seat enough to swing control of the Senate – now evenly divided and controlled by Democrats only through the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Casting his ballot in Florida, Trump again teased an expected announcement next week of a 2024 presidential run, telling reporters Nov 15 “will be a very exciting day for a lot of people”.
