Polls show Republicans poised to regain control of the House of Representatives after Tuesday’s midterm elections. However, the Senate is widely considered a contest, with voters in a handful of key states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada likely to determine the outcome. Former President Barack Obama, who has been criss-crossing the country for the past week in support of Democratic Senate candidates, shared the stage in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning with John Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and the Democratic nominee for Senate. USA. A Fetterman campaign official described the former president as “the best closer to politics.” “Tomorrow we turn our clocks back one hour,” Obama told a crowd of more than 6,500 at the University of Pittsburgh. “On Tuesday, let’s make sure our country doesn’t go back fifty years.” Obama and Fetterman will be joined in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon by President Joe Biden, who has largely avoided the campaign trail amid persistently low approval ratings but has increased his public appearances in recent days. Meanwhile, on Saturday night, the man who beat Biden – Donald Trump – will hold a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a small town about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. Trump, who has started his own tour in Iowa, Florida and Ohio, among other states, will appear in Latrobe with Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, and Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. John Fetterman discusses reproductive freedom at an event in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, on Friday © AP “Once again, all eyes are on Pennsylvania,” Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle told the rally in Philadelphia at a basketball arena at the city’s Temple University. Pennsylvania has long been seen as a pivotal swing state and bellwether of the national mood. Biden defeated Trump there by about 80,000 votes in 2020. Democrats have targeted the U.S. Senate seat since incumbent Republican Pat Toomey announced he would retire at the end of his six-year term. Over the summer, polls gave Fetterman — the brash former mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania — a double-digit lead over Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon turned TV personality who secured his party’s nomination earlier this year after Trump endorsed him. But Fetterman suffered a stroke in May and his absence from the campaign trail, combined with a well-equipped Oz campaign that focused heavily on issues like crime and inflation, allowed the former TV host to close the gap. The latest Real Clear Politics polling average gives Oz a 0.1-point lead over Fetterman, within the margin of error. Dr. Mehmet Oz greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event in Carlisle, Pennsylvania © Getty Images Democratic hopes for the seat were further shaken last week after a televised debate in which Fetterman struggled to speak clearly and at times appeared to struggle to answer questions. But the president’s party remains optimistic that Fetterman will be able to edge out Oz on Election Day, thanks in part to the tailwinds of Josh Shapiro, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, who is comfortably ahead of Mastriano. The Republican won his party’s nomination with Trump’s endorsement, but Mastriano’s campaign has struggled to raise money and voters appear to be rejecting his hard-line candidacy, which centers on refusing to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. Next week’s midterm elections will have major implications for both political parties, not only on Capitol Hill, but also as politicians cast their eyes on the 2024 presidential election. Trump is expected to announce his third bid for the White House shortly after the midterm elections, in a move that will spark the next election cycle and raise new questions about whether some Republicans will challenge his nomination. Biden has not officially said he will seek re-election in two years. But Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the president, said at an event in Washington earlier this week that initial talks about a future campaign were underway.
