Biden says he’s optimistic about midterms but acknowledges uphill battle

Washington, Oct 24 (EFE).- US President Joe Biden acknowledged Monday that Democrats face an uphill battle in the lead-up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, although he expressed optimism that his party will keep control of Congress.

“I can’t think of a more consequential election that I’ve been involved in and we’ve been involved in. Whether we maintain control of the Senate and the House (of Representatives) is a big deal. We’re running against the tide, and we’re beating the tide,” Biden said at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in Washington DC.

Democrats currently control both houses of Congress, but in the 50-50 Senate they have to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to cast tie-breaking votes on legislation that lacks bipartisan support.

As of Monday, opinion poll analysis website FiveThirtyEight says Democrats have a 55 percent probability of maintaining control of the Senate but just a 19 percent chance of keeping their majority in the House.

Biden on Monday predicted the Democrats would prevail even though traditionally the party in the White House fares poorly in midterm elections, saying American voters must decide between starkly different alternatives.

“This election is a choice between two vastly different visions for America,” the president said. “Democrats are building a better America for everyone, with an economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out, where everyone does well.”

“Republicans are doubling down on mega-MAGA trickle-down economics that benefits the very wealthy, has failed the country before and will fail it again,” he said, referring both to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and the much-maligned theory that tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy in the short term eventually boost standards of living for all individuals.

The president also railed against the GOP for threatening to use next year’s need to raise the debt limit – a cap on how much the Treasury Department can borrow to fund federal operations – as leverage for achieving an overhaul of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“There’s nothing, nothing that would create more chaos, more inflation and more damage to the American economy than this,” he said. “Republicans are going to crash the economy,” Biden said. EFE

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