Bullish Republicans vowed on Sunday to deliver a “wake-up call” to Joe Biden and retake Congress in this week’s crucial midterm elections, as the US President’s Democrats insisted they were still in the fight with two days to go.
Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, have pulled out all the stops to attract voters to Tuesday’s campaign — what Biden says is a “defining” moment for US democracy.
After rival Saturday night rallies on the Pennsylvania battlefield, both men had new appearances for Sunday – Biden in New York, Trump in Miami – while senior party leaders took to the airwaves to seek every last American vote.
A massive 40 million Americans already voted early, according to NBC News Sunday, with both sides forecasting a win.
But recent polls have put Democrats on the defensive, while Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, summed up sentiment in his party by predicting “a great night” in both houses of Congress.
Fellow Republican Glenn Youngkin, the governor of Virginia, told ABC News’ This Week talk show that his camp is now the one offering “reasonable solutions” to pressing problems like air inflation and crime.
“This will be a wake-up call for President Biden,” Youngkin said.
With Republican figurehead Trump doubling down on conspiracy theory votes ahead of the midterms and several candidates in his camp expressing doubts about the upcoming results, party leaders have sought to reassure voters that Republicans will accept the outcome — even if they lose.
When asked directly whether each Republican candidate would accept the results, party leader Ronna McDaniel told CNN, “They will.”
Several hundred Republicans seeking office next week have backed Trump’s baseless cheating allegations in 2020 — and some, contrary to McDaniel’s comments, are also casting doubt on the midterm elections.
Kari Lake, the party’s far-right candidate for Arizona governor, for example, has declined to say whether she would endorse the results.
When asked by CNN last month if she would accept the outcome of her race, which polls show is a failure, she said, “I’m going to win the election and I’m going to accept that outcome.”
– ‘Bumrap?’ –
The US midterm election is typically viewed as a referendum on the incumbent president, whose party tends to lose seats in Congress, especially when — as with Biden — the president’s approval rating is below 50 percent.
Polls put Republicans ahead in the House battle and also show they are gaining momentum in key Senate elections as voters seek to vent frustration over four decades of high inflation and rising illegal immigration.
Biden attended Mass early Sunday in Wilmington, Delaware, before flying to New York to rally in support of Gov. Kathy Hochul as she faces an unexpectedly strong Republican challenge.
Biden teamed up with Democratic superstar Barack Obama in key swing state Pennsylvania a day earlier — he has campaigned alongside Senate hopeful John Fetterman and gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro.
Speaking to thousands at a Philadelphia arena, Biden cited the Trumpists’ growing support for conspiracy theories to highlight what is at stake.
“Democracy is literally on the ballot. This is a pivotal moment for the nation,” Biden warned as he tried to get his party on track.
Trump himself attended a rival rally to bolster Fetterman’s opponent, famed TV doctor Mehmet Oz, and Shapiro’s far-right opponent Doug Mastriano.
In a rambling speech, Trump defended his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and urged Americans “to vote Republican in a huge red wave” – ??while teasing his potential new White House run in 2024.
“I promise you that in the next very, very, very short time, you will be so happy,” Trump told his supporters.
Democrats have resisted the narrative of an inevitable Republican takeover of Congress.
“We’re going to hold that majority,” Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who directs the congressional Democrat campaign, insisted to NBC.
But polls show Biden’s Democrats are struggling to convince voters on the kitchen-table issues central to this week’s election — and there’s little sign of Biden’s dire warnings about a threat to democracy turning the tables in their favor to have.
