By CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — This yr’s midterm elections are enjoying out as a wierd continuation of the final presidential race — and a possible preview of the following one.
Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has spent months raging in opposition to Joe Biden, reshaping down-ballot campaigns that usually operate as a simple referendum on the incumbent president.
The result’s an episode of political shadowboxing with little precedent, as the present president and his rapid predecessor — and attainable future challenger — crisscross the nation in assist of their occasion’s candidates.
Even as he faces a number of investigations, together with a prison probe into the dealing with of labeled paperwork at his Mar-a-Lago property, Trump has been holding raucous rallies in battleground states, the place he alternates between touting his handpicked candidates and denouncing his enemies. He belittles and excoriates Biden whereas mendacity, as he did in Ohio final month, that “we didn’t lose” the final election.
Biden has up to now steered away from a number of the tightest midterm races, as a substitute specializing in fundraisers and official occasions the place he attracts contrasts between Democratic and Republican coverage agendas. He usually avoids direct references to “the last guy,” however on Saturday in Oregon, Biden warned that “Trump controls the Republican Party.”
Sometimes the 2 males journey to the identical locations, resembling after they visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, inside days of one another, a mirrored image of the slender political map that may decide which occasion controls the U.S. Senate.
“It’s remarkably unusual,” stated Jeffrey Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, who strained to think about any comparability in earlier election cycles.
“Without exception, since the Great Depression” — Republican Herbert Hoover tried to plot a path again to energy regardless of shedding to Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 — “we have not had a former president who believed they still had a viable political career ahead of them,” he stated.
Neither Trump nor Biden has formally introduced they’ll run once more. Trump has come near declaring his candidacy, and Biden has stated he intends to hunt a second time period.
If they face off once more, the competitors between them might turn into one of many longest and impactful political duels in American historical past, spanning a number of years and a number of elections.
Voters appear to have little urge for food for a rematch.
A current AP-NORC ballot exhibits solely about 3 in 10 Americans need both Biden or Trump to run for president in two years. Just 5 in 10 Democrats need Biden to hunt a second time period, whereas 6 out of 10 Republicans hope to see Trump search the presidency once more.
Engel stated one other battle between Biden and Trump would seemingly show dispiriting.
“What that fundamentally means is our country is not moving forward,” he stated. “I have not met anybody who relishes that campaign.”
However, it’s clear that each males see their fortunes tied to the opposite.
When CNN’s Jake Tapper requested Biden whether or not he’s the one one who might fend off his predecessor in one other marketing campaign, the president sidestepped the query however expressed confidence about his possibilities.
“I believe I can beat Donald Trump again,” he stated.
Trump would take subject with the usage of the phrase “again” — he continues to unfold the lie that Biden solely took workplace by voter fraud.
It’s an integral a part of Trump’s political message, and he by no means fails to deliver it up at rallies for Republican candidates who’ve endorsed his false views on the final election. Sometimes the rhetoric dives even deeper into conspiracies, a reminder that one other marketing campaign might signify a fair sharper break with actuality.
In Arizona, throughout his most up-to-date rally, Trump darkly instructed that Biden is surrounded by “vicious, very smart people” who’re “pulling strings.”
“No one thought this could happen in our country, and it all happened because of a rigged and stolen election,” he stated.
The former president has additionally tightened his embrace of the QAnon conspiracy idea, which portrays Trump as battling sinister, hidden forces.
Using his Truth Social platform, Trump shared a picture of himself sporting a Q lapel pin overlaid with the phrases “The Storm is Coming,” referencing his eventual victory over opponents who could be tried — and even executed — on dwell tv.
People near Trump have stated they consider a powerful efficiency by Republicans in November will additional encourage Trump to run once more in two years, as he has been overtly teasing for months.
In addition to his rallies, which earn candidates native media consideration and fireplace up the Republican base, Trump has been serving to candidates in different methods, holding fundraisers and tele-rally calls on their behalf. Most considerably, final week, his new tremendous PAC, MAGA Inc., reserved practically $5 million in airtime for advertisements in key states attacking the opponents of his favored candidates.
The first spherical of advertisements from the group notably don’t characteristic Trump and even point out his identify. Republicans have expressed frustration that Trump was hoarding small-dollar donations for himself and refusing to assist the candidates he had pushed voters to appoint, regardless of sitting on an unlimited warfare chest.
But Mike DuHaime, a longtime Republican strategist, isn’t positive the result of the midterms will make a distinction in Trump’s plans for the following presidential race.
“He’ll take credit for every win and deflect blame for every loss,” he stated.
Trump has claimed, as he did in Pennsylvania final month, that the midterms are “a referendum on the corruption and extremism of Joe Biden and the radical Democrat party.”
But DuHaime stated Trump has prevented that from occurring by injecting himself into this yr’s races, offering a lift to Biden, whose ballot numbers stay underwater as voters categorical issues in regards to the financial system.
“Trump is no ordinary president, nor did he really seem to care about the party,” he stated. “He seems to care about himself more than the party that put him in office.”
Biden’s circle has the same view. An adviser, talking on the situation of anonymity to debate inside conversations, stated these round Biden see the midterms as having turn into extra of a alternative than a referendum. Trump’s presence on the path, the adviser stated, is seen as serving to make Democratic factors for them.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, stated the one factor extra useful could be if Trump introduced one other presidential marketing campaign.
“He’s getting dangerously close to that,” she stated.
Biden has deferred any announcement about his personal candidacy till after Election Day, protecting his concentrate on the midterms.
Like different incumbent presidents in an election yr, Biden has blended his political and governmental duties as voting begins.
He stopped in Colorado on Wednesday to designate the primary nationwide monument of his administration, fulfilling the needs of the state’s senior Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, who’s searching for reelection this yr. Although Bennet is favored to win, he’s dealing with a concerted problem from Joe O’Dea, a Republican businessman.
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s protection of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.
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This story has been corrected to point out the Colorado senator’s surname is Bennet, not Bennett.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”