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WASHINGTON: Donald Trump yesterday launched a radical campaign in three US states to prevent Democrats from breaking his Republican party's hold on the US Congress in the mid-term elections, representing a battle for the soul of the turbulent nation.
Cleveland, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Long before midnight, the billionaire real estate and populist showman will return to the White House – and only a few more hours before the opening of the polls today in the world's largest economy.
While voter turnout was set to increase significantly from previous cycles and US networks were providing end-to-end coverage, Trump told an enthusiastic crowd in Cleveland that the media was "making a fortune" with him and his supporters.
"The mid-term elections were boring," he joked.
"Now, it's like the hottest thing."
Trump is not on the ballot at the mid-session, where the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs.
But in a series of fierce rallies across the country, the most polarizing American president for decades has put himself at the center of all the issues.
With a characteristic blend of folksiness, silliness and sometimes cruel humor, he says voters need to choose between running a booming economy and what he claims to be the extreme left politics of Democrats.
In an article in Fox News, he said that the United States "has the best economy in the history of our country – and that hope has finally returned to US cities."
But by the time he landed in Indiana for the second leg of his tour, Trump was optimistic about the possibility of a Democratic victory in the House.
"We will just have to work a little differently," he told reporters when asked what impact it would have on his presidency.
The attempt to do everything about Trump is a gamble, as is its ever-changing economic success for bitter critics – critics say racist – that the country is being attacked by illegal immigration.
In the perspective of today's vote, Trump sent thousands of troops to the Mexican border, suggested shooting at illegal immigrants who throw stones and told Americans that Democrats would transform the country. in a real black hole for crime and drugs. .
It worked for Trump in his own electoral victory in the 2016 elections.
But the tone of anger has diverted Americans' shackles, giving Democrats the assurance that they could at least capture the lower house of Congress, even though Republicans expect to retain the Senate.
Fight for the American soul
Democrats have deployed their most powerful weapon in the final days of the campaign: former President Barack Obama, who on Sunday launched a final call for a Democratic Senate threatened in Indiana.
In the face of tangled legal scandals surrounding the Trump administration – especially the possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian agents – Obama mocks: "They have accumulated enough charges to fill a football team."
And describing the election as being even more decisive than his own historic victory in 2008 as the first non-white president, Obama said he was ignoring politics.
"The character of our country on the ballot," he said.
The party of a president of the first term tends to lose seats in Congress in his first half term. But a healthy economy favors incumbents, so Trump can still challenge the historical model.
Although polls generally agree that Democrats are elected to the House and Republicans retain the Senate, margins are good and some key races will determine whether a real surprise is to be expected.
One of these is the challenge launched by Democrat Beto O'Rourke to Senator Ted Cruz in Texas, a traditional Republican.
Yesterday, O'Rourke described the contest as an epic event, saying that Texans "will define the future, not just of Texas, but of this country, not just of this generation, but of all generations to come."
Pete Stauber, a Republican, wants to overthrow Democrat House in Minnesota, while the Democrats of Florida and Georgia seek to become the first African-American governors of that state.
In the end, polls mean nothing if people do not vote. Even stormy weather forecasts for today in much of the east of the country could have an impact.
Violence and rhetoric
The biggest joker is perhaps the reaction of voters to the increasingly extreme rhetoric and politically inspired violence in the last two weeks of the campaign.
In his speeches, Trump transformed into a fierce threat a small group of a few thousand destitute Central Americans trying to reach the United States.
It can work with Trump's ultra-loyal base.
However, the president's speeches sparked doubts after a Florida man and an ardent supporter of Trump were accused of sending homemade bombs to more than a dozen high-ranking Democrats. rank and other high ranking opponents.
Just after, an armed man entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 worshipers.
He reportedly attacked Jews online for allegedly transporting "invaders" from Central America to the United States – in a language that echoed Trump's attacks on impoverished migrants, which he called "an invasion". ". – AFP
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