The Democrats are organizing their last meetings on Monday on the eve of the mid-term elections in the United States, with the objective of taking – at least partially – control of Congress in order to counterbalance Donald Trump, accused of exceeding his powers.
These rallies, particularly around Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, end a tense and bitter campaign.
The president, who has continued to extend his influence since his return to business, helped by a docile Republican Party, chose to speak in Washington, at the edge of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which has become emblematic of his controversial desire to reshape the capital.
“We are going to win,” insisted Sunday the 80-year-old billionaire, who has been seeking for months to sow doubt about the integrity of the vote and has mentioned in advance a possible challenge to the results.
The battle for Congress
The presidential camp traditionally loses midterm elections and polls show that Democrats are almost certain to capture the majority in the House of Representatives and have a chance of overthrowing the Senate.
Control of the House alone would give them control of the federal budget and powerful commissions capable of investigating alleged corruption under the Trump administration, the Epstein dossier and other explosive subjects.
Losing his domination of the federal Parliament two years before the end of his mandate would move Donald Trump into unknown and uncomfortable territory, also undermined by inflation and a war against Iran which drags on.
The Democrats nevertheless remain cautious, as polls have in the past underestimated the mobilization of the Maga base. To describe this state of mind, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock spoke on CNN of a “nauseous optimism”.
A campaign under high tension
During the campaign, the Republicans, led by the tenant of the White House, conducted a scorched earth policy, presenting the Democrats as “communists” and calling Abdul El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim senator if elected in Michigan, a “terrorist”.
At a meeting in Iowa on Sunday, their leader said the opposition was made up of “extremist and dangerous radicals” who “will steal your wealth” and let in migrants to “sack, rape and pillage.”
Americans, however, appear to be massively turning away from the president’s aggressive rhetoric. A poll published Sunday by NBC News shows that 60% of them disapprove of his action, in particular because of the explosion in the cost of living, aggravated by the war against Iran, initiated despite the promise to stop military campaigns abroad and which has lasted for eight months.
The Senate remains uncertain
If the House of Representatives, all of whose seats are at stake, seems very likely to return to the Democrats, the battle for the Senate remains uncertain. Only a third of its 100 seats are up for renewal and few were initially considered Democratic-friendly.
However, with surprisingly strong candidacies in deeply Republican states, pollsters now estimate the odds of a swing to be at least 50-50.
However, a Senate with a Democratic majority could block lifetime appointments by the president within the judiciary, in particular to the Supreme Court. If the vote is officially held on Tuesday, a record 54 million people, including a majority of voters registered as Democrats, have already voted early.
This election saw approximately $11 billion spent on advertising campaigns, a large portion of which came from private mega-donors. Multi-billionaire Elon Musk, who led the Commission on Government Efficiency (Doge) at the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, has contributed nearly half a billion $ to his party’s candidates.
