If the final composition of the US Congress remains uncertain, the red wave announced before the ballot has not materialized. But the excellent resistance of the party of Biden is less the expression of adhesion than of a double concern.
by Piotr smolar (Washington, correspondent)
Above all, not to change anything and wait for the reforms to bear fruit. Serene, sometimes teasing, Joe Biden did not wait to know the final composition of the House of Representatives and the Senate to draw the conclusions of the mid-term elections. During a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, November 9, the President of the United States was delighted: the law of gravity, in American politics, wanting this ballot to punish the party power has been challenged.
“While the press and the experts predicted a giant” red wave “[of the color of the republican opposition], that did not happen,” said Joe Biden. Democrats hope to maintain control of the Senate. A possible republican majority in the House would be puny. In this unforeseen context, the president confirmed his intention to present himself to the next presidential election in two years, specifying that he would make the final decision “with the family” and would announce it in early 2023.
The American president also set the parameters of a possible cohabitation with a republican chamber. He said he was available for Bipartisan work, hoping for the continuation of the massive aid provided to Ukraine. But he warned that he would not accept the scuttle of his own reforms, for example on the price of drugs or the climate. Joe Biden pointed out several times that he understood the frustration of Americans in economic matters, in reference to the cost of living. But he said he was confident in the fact that citizens would see the concrete effect of his reforms, in their daily life, from the first quarter 2023.
The White House had several reasons for satisfaction, given the results: a strong democratic mobilization, no hemorrhage among the self -employed, Trumpist candidates often in great difficulty, a very gloomy republican party, wondering about its orientation . “Never underestimate how underestimated the Biden team,” said Ronald Klain, the head of the presidential administration on Twitter on Wednesday morning. The latter watched day after day on the price of petrol at the pump, since this summer, knowing how much his decrease has conditioned an honorable performance in the mid-term elections.
In addition, the strategy which consisted in presenting the ballot as an existential issue for American democracy has largely borne fruit, if we put apart the Florida. However, the entourage of Joe Biden is not fooled on the nature of the Tuesday ballot. The exit polls indicate that the excellent democratic resistance is not the expression of an adhesion vote. No more than the 81 million votes in favor of Joe Biden, in the presidential election, testified of a major enthusiasm for his candidacy. The president’s popularity remains at an average level of 42 %. Massive pessimism dominates about the economic becoming of the country, due to inflation.
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