Three days of elections “decisive” in the United States, President Joe Biden and his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama urged, on Saturday November 5, to « voter » to protect the ” democracy “. “Democracy is literally on the ballot. This is a watershed moment for the nation and we must all speak with one voice.”launched Joe Biden under a blue and red light, a huge American flag and the ovations of a hall in Philadelphia, the cradle of the American Constitution at the end of the 18th century.e century.
The adversary Donald Trump has asked for a “giant wave” republican for “saving the american dream” and, why not, surf on it in anticipation of 2024.
All the spotlight is on Pennsylvania, a former steel-making bastion, where Republican multi-millionaire surgeon Mehmet Oz, a Donald Trump-esque TV star, faces off against bald colossus and former small-town Democratic mayor John Fetterman for the most contested seat in the Senate. Because of this position of senator undoubtedly depends the balance of the powers of the upper house of Congress, with immense power.
Tuesday, November 8, the Americans are also called upon to renew the entire House of Representatives. Posts of governors and local elected officials, who decide their state’s policies for abortion or the environment, are also at stake. Mr. Obama, for whom nostalgia plays a full role, was first in Pittsburgh, industrial town in Pennsylvania, where he asked the « cousin Pookie » and to “Uncle Joe”affectionate nicknames of demobilized voters, sunk in their sofas, to get up and to go and vote! » Tuesday for Democrats.
love and ballots
” I love you ! »then threw someone in the crowd at him. “I love you too, but you have to vote! », replied the politician with obvious oratorical talents and charisma. He acknowledged that “the whole country had gone through difficult times in recent years”especially with a “historic pandemic”.
But the father of health insurance “Obamacare” attacked the Republicans, who want “dismember Social Security, Medicare and give the rich and big business more tax cuts”. Alongside his former Vice President Joe Biden in Philadelphia, Barack Obama also asked, hoarsely, to protect “democracy on the ballot [car] the stakes are high”.
“It is very important that the Democrats stay” in power, added Jennifer Hahn, a 57-year-old psychologist who lined up for hundreds of meters under a magnificent autumn sun for the meeting of Biden, Obama and Fetterman. For this democrat, “climate change, gun violence and violation of rights” individuals are the most crucial questions of the ballot.
Jacqueline Smythe, 30, also fears a backlash on abortion after the Supreme Court blasted this federal right in June. She believes that the Republican Party is akin to a “dictatorship”.
“Stop the destruction of the country”
In the evening, still in Pennsylvania, in the town of Latrobe, the hero of the Republicans, ex-President Trump (2017-2021), red cap « Make America Great Again » pressed on the head and hiding his gaze, called for a very long time for a “giant wave” of his party for “End the Destruction of the Country and Save the American Dream”.
After a fierce campaign centered on inflation, the Republicans are showing their confidence in their chances of depriving the Democratic President of his majorities on November 8th. If their predictions are confirmed, the 76-year-old businessman seems determined to take advantage of it to formalize his candidacy for the presidency of 2024 as soon as possible. With an air of revenge on his defeat in 2020.
“We must find our country”launched a supporter at the Latrobe rally, Shawn Ecker Grey, 44, while Leslie Boswell said « adore[r] Trump because he supports everything [elle] cut[t] ». Joe Biden has so far said he wants to run again, but the prospect does not appeal to all Democrats because of his age, soon to be 80, and his unpopularity.
The Democratic leader is trying to convince Americans that this election is ” a choice “ : on the future of abortion or same-sex marriage, all subjects on which he has promised to legislate if he obtains solid majorities in Congress.
But it is the rise in prices, 8.2% inflation on average over one year, which remains by far the main concern of Americans, and Joe Biden’s efforts to pose as a “president of the middle class” struggle to bear fruit.