The biggest names in politics in the United States, including Democrats Biden and former President Barack Obama, as well as Republican Trump, were in Pennsylvania on Saturday hoping to tip the balance in a pivotal Senate race between Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and the Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz. Polls put Republicans at odds with Democrats for the Senate and also show them well ahead in the House race as voters, already enraged by culture wars over gay rights and abortion, seek to rid themselves of the frustration for four decades – high inflation and violent crime. “Friends, three days, three days until one of the most important elections in our lifetime. The outcome will shape our country for decades to come, and the power to shape that outcome is in your hands,” Biden told thousands of supporters in the city of Philadelphia. “It’s a choice. A choice between two very different visions of America.” Trump, who sources say is preparing to launch a third consecutive bid for the White House after the midterm elections, continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Biden was the result of widespread fraud. Many courts, government agencies and members of his own administration have rejected this claim as untrue. But polls show a significant number of Republican voters accept the claim, as do many candidates for Congress, governor and state offices that oversee election administration. Biden, citing growing Republican support for conspiracy theories, said democracy was “literally on the ballot.” “This is a defining moment for the nation and everyone, everyone must speak with one voice,” he added. Obama, who had also spoken at an earlier rally in Pittsburgh, got the loudest cheers of the night, repeatedly urging supporters to make sure they vote. “A lot of people don’t pay as much attention to politics as they do in a presidential year. Maybe they don’t think Congress matters that much. Maybe they don’t think their vote will matter,” he said. But “fundamental rights … sanity and decency are on the ballot,” he said, attacking Republicans as increasingly averse to everything from science to respect for the rules. “Democracy itself is on the ballot. The stakes are high,” Obama said in an echo of Biden’s warning, his voice becoming hoarse.
“Red Wave”
The attention on Pennsylvania underscores the stakes in 2022 — and beyond — for the hotly contested state. The Oz-Fetterman race could decide the Senate majority and, with it, Biden’s agenda and judicial appointments for the next two years. Fetterman held a commanding lead in the race throughout the US summer, which Oz has chipped away at over the past two months. Some factors are likely local: A stroke in May forced Fetterman to curtail his campaign schedule and affected his speech. In a debate last month, he frequently stumbled over his words, in a performance that even allies privately described as shaky. But Oz’s gains also reflect a shift in national momentum in favor of Republicans, as voters’ focus on inflation and crime has proven more durable than concerns about abortion. Early Democratic leads in several other Senate races, including key contests in Georgia and Nevada, have also shrunk or evaporated in recent weeks. Also, playing against the Democrats is Biden’s unpopularity. Only 40 percent of Americans approve of the president’s job performance, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that ended on Tuesday. This led to Biden not campaigning in some key states. Pennsylvania is also holding a gubernatorial contest, which will determine the direction of state politics and control of the state’s election infrastructure heading into the 2024 presidential contest. Democrat Josh Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, leads in polls over Doug Mastriano, a Republican senator and retired Army colonel who some in his party believe is too extreme to win the general election in a state that Biden narrowly endorsed two years ago. Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022 [Jacqueline Larma/ AP] As Biden and Obama wrapped up their rally in Philadelphia, Trump was in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, drumming up support for both Oz, the Republican Senate nominee, and Mastriano. The success of the two Republican candidates on Tuesday will help Trump launch his own comeback campaign. That could set the stage for a Biden-Trump rematch, though some Democrats say big losses for their party could increase pressure on the incumbent president to step aside and let someone else carry the mantle of the party. 2024. Speaking to thousands of supporters, Trump denounced what he called a “bloody crime wave” and warned that educators were indoctrinating children with “distorted teachings about race and gender.” Of his Democratic rivals, Trump said: “They’re either stupid or they hate our country.” And again and again, he falsely claimed that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election and warned of the possibility of voter fraud next week. “Our country has never been as bad as it is now,” Trump said. “We have a country in decline.” He added: “If you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the ‘American Dream’ then this Tuesday you must vote Republican in a giant red wave.”
