Opinion
BY Augustine Akabueze
U. S. goes to the polls on Tuesday in the midterm elections to elect a new congress, 34 senators, state governors and state legislatures. It is expected that the Democratic Party will lose control of the Congress and maybe the Senate, making the last two years of President Biden administration a contentious one.
Already the talk of impeachment is in the air. The Democratic Party is facing a lot of headwinds which include the tendency for the party in power to lose the Congress during the midterms. Also problematic for the administration is an emboldened Republican Party and inflationary trends in the economy. While unemployment remains historically low at 3.7 percent, many Americans are dealing with the effects of inflation which have reduced their purchasing power. Though the problem is worldwide, the Biden administration is being wrongly blamed for it and will pay a political price as a result.
Another factor is the muted and poor communication skills of the Democratic Party by not explaining their numerous accomplishments in the last two years. Rather, the party is focused on social issues like abortion, gay marriage and cultural issues, and are now wrongly blamed for the economic situation in the country. Also working against the Demorats is the dominance of the Republicans in the redistricting process. Done every ten years,
The Republicans are using their dominance in the states’ legislatures to do a lot of gerrymandering, thereby carving districts that are favorable to them. It is already a fait accompli that the House of Representatives will go to the Republicans. The Senate is currently a jump ball with Republicans having a late surge in the Polls. The Democrats were favored as recent as two weeks ago but the polls have tightened, and they are trending red.
The senate is currently split at 50 each with the Vice President delivering the majority to the Democrats with her tie-breaking vote. This is where the race is at moment: The Republican seats targeted by the Democrats in Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina look to be out of reach.
The last Republican seat in Pennsylvania is dead even , and can go to either party. In the same vein, the Republicans are poised to make gains by targeting Democratic seats in Nevada,Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire. The Democrats have thrown their top guns, in Obama and Biden, fighting to keep those four seats.
My prediction is that the Republicans will control the House but the Senate will barely remain in the Democratic hands.
A.I
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