Biden, Trump, Obama Head to Pennsylvania in Final Midterm Dash

Philadelphia:

The biggest names in Democratic and Republican politics – Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Donald Trump – head to Pennsylvania on Saturday, hoping to strike a balance in a closely contested midterm race that will determine control of the US Senate.

Former President Obama toured five states aimed at preventing his party’s losses in Tuesday’s congressional elections, with Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman in attendance in Pittsburgh before moving to Philadelphia, where he accompanied President Biden to Temple University. Will take the stage

Former President Trump, meanwhile, will garner support for his hand-picked Republican Senate nominee, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, at a rally in Latrobe, southeast of Pittsburgh.

As has a steady stream of rallies since leaving office, Trump is also working to maintain his own profile as he considers starting a third run for the White House after midterm, according to advisers. Huh.

It could set the stage for a Biden-Trump rematch, though some Democrats say Tuesday’s heavy losses to Biden’s party could increase pressure on the president to step aside and replace someone else with the party in 2024. Let it lead

The Fetterman-Oz Senate race is one of three important contests, along with Georgia and Nevada, that will determine whether Democrats hold on to their razor-thin majority in the Senate, and with it Biden’s run for positions ranging from his cabinet. Candidates have the power to confirm. to the Supreme Court.

Nonpartisan election forecasts and polls show that with the toss of the Senate, Republicans are the overwhelming favorite to win control of the House of Representatives. Control of even one of those chambers would give Republicans the power to block Biden’s legislative agenda and launch a potentially harmful investigation.

high stakes

Both parties have drawn attention to Pennsylvania because of the race’s strategic importance and because of their voters’ history of swinging from party to party in the last four presidential elections.

Volunteers from across the state are also out.

Teacher Susan Mast, 62, of Lancaster, has spent several hours every day for the past four weeks trying to recruit voters for Fetterman and other Democratic candidates.

“Democracy is at stake. Women’s rights are at stake,” Mast said.

Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, held a commanding lead in the race throughout the summer, which Oz has overcome over the past two months.

Some factors may be local: a setback this spring forced Fetterman to cut his campaign schedule and affected his speech. In a debate last month, he often stumbled upon his words, in a performance even colleagues were described as privately unstable.

But Oz’s gain also reflects a nationwide momentum shift in favor of Republicans, as voters’ focus on inflation and crime has proven more sustainable than concerns about abortion. Democrats’ early leads in several other Senate races, including contests in Georgia and Nevada, have also shrunk or evaporated altogether in recent weeks.

Also playing against Democrats is Biden’s unpopularity. According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll concluded on Tuesday, only 40% of Americans approve of the presidential job’s performance, prompting Biden to withdraw from campaigning in some key states.

In contrast, Obama has been tearing up the campaign trail for the past week in some of the nation’s most horrific battlefields, including Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada.

A bright spot for Democrats is Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, with Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro holding a commanding lead against Maastriano, a Republican state senator whose far-right stance has failed to connect with voters.

Maastriano, who would appoint Pennsylvania’s secretary of state and exert heavy influence over the conduct of elections he was to win, offered a failed resolution after Trump lost Pennsylvania in 2020, claiming it was the Republican-controlled legislature whose had the power to determine which candidate received the votes of the state’s presidential electors.

Maastriano has also said that if elected he would ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a position that has been followed by Republicans running in swing states, many of whom have taken the issue mid-way. Has asked

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)