Coming from a Republican Party official, the explanation is surprising. “We have arrived at the fifth stage of mourning and pain: acceptance [qui succède au déni, à la colère, au marchandage et à la dépression] “, summarizes in his office Bryan C. Williams, chairman of the party in Summit County, Ohio.
“It’s one to midnight. This is no longer the time for blame, but the time to take action. In all states, all seats are important to give us a victory. So, whether you like the Republican candidate or not who is running there, he is always the best choice against a Democrat. »
On the eve of Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, the doubts and skepticism expressed by members of the Republican Party establishment in the face of several candidates chosen by Donald Trump in a handful of key states now seem more relevant. A change in tone that accompanies the advance of the party towards an increasingly possible resumption of control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Washington. The prospect will compromise the continuation of Joe Biden’s political program.
In New Hampshire, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu exemplified the trend by endorsing controversial state senator Don Bolduc last week, after addressing him two months ago. barely, “extremist conspiracy theories”.
“Don and I didn’t agree during the primary [républicaine] Sununu said. The governor supported a more moderate candidate. “But I’m going to support the Republican ticket because the issues people are voting on are inflation, gas prices, heating oil prices, which are skyrocketing here in New Hampshire and are causing major concern,” he said. he summarized on the airwaves of NBC.
The Republican Party is no longer a party that does politics, it’s a party that does immorality
Bolduc, a veteran of the US Army, came into the race by carrying Donald Trump’s misleading message about stealing the 2020 election and pushing for a hard-line approach against abortion. Two weeks ago, he exposed the presence of kitty litter at a school in his state for students who he said had chosen a cat as their identity. The school denied the information. He sought to stir up with this delirious story, taken up by several Republican candidates during the campaign, the embers on the debate on sexual diversity, which has become the weapon of the Republicans in their culture war waged against the Democrats.
In fact, and sadly, this litter is stockpiled in schools in only one Colorado district, the one affected by the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, in the event of an indoor classroom confinement caused by a shooting – and they are numerous in the United States in schools — as a substitute for the toilet.
Quality control “
Last August, Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell downplayed his party’s expectations of the resumption of the Senate, denouncing the “quality of the candidates who have a lot to do with the result”, a-t- he said during a lunch organized by a chamber of commerce in northern Kentucky, without however naming the choices, questionable for many within the party, made by the ex-president during the primaries.
Ted Budd, Senate candidate in North Carolina, dubbed by Donald Trump, was one of them, looked down on by the state party leadership because of his weakness against Democrat Cheri Beasley, ex-Court judge local supreme. But since then, Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas have recently come to campaign for him.
The same scenario occurred for JD Vance in Ohio, for Herschel Walker in Georgia or for Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, abrasive figures perceived for the party as weak links in the race, because of their collusion with Trump and especially with its conspiracy theories that seek to undermine public confidence in the American electoral process.
Last month, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee came to campaign for Walker in Dalton, northern Georgia, to support the ex-football player caught up in his campaign past: the man, who claims to have embarked on a campaign at the call of God, is a fervent opponent of abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. The problem? One of his ex-girlfriends claimed he had paid for her to have an abortion. On social networks, his son Christian even came to denounce his father’s behavior, calling him a “liar”.
At the latest opinion measure, the site FiveThirtyEight now gives 83% of luck to the Republicans for the recovery of the majority in the House of Representatives and 55% for that of the Senate.
Races for senator seats still remain unpredictable in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona. The Democrats will have to win three of these four seats to maintain their tiny majority and limit the potsuckling.
Questionable candidates
In the race for key positions in Washington, but also for several functions in local governments (governor, secretary of state, lieutenant governor, attorney general), nearly 300 Republican candidates are openly contesting the legitimacy of the 2020 ballot, believe that electoral fraud is the basis of the victory of the Democrats two years ago or tried to have the last presidential election annulled, listed the Washington Post. If elected, many will find themselves in a position of authority for the organization of the next elections in the country and for the official certification of the vote during the next presidential election of 2024.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to win the majority. And I have the impression that many of these concerns have been relegated to the background as we move towards this goal, ”summed up Steven Law who heads the Senate Leadership Fund, the financial arm of the Republican Senate campaign and close to Mitch. McConnell, quoted by the Associated Press.
“The Republican Party is no longer a party that does politics, it’s a party that does immorality,” summed up Brandy Gore on Saturday, from the town of King of Prussia, in the inner suburbs. West Philadelphia, to attend a major Democratic rally featuring Joe Biden and Barack Obama. “We cannot sweep under the rug everything that is at stake in this campaign: the right to vote, the rights of women, the lives of African-Americans, democracy, the safeguarding of the environment, the defense of social protection, medical coverage…”
“This is a dangerous time for the country,” added her friend Robin Holden-Boyd, member of the National Congress of African-American Women. After the insurgents, it is fascism that now presents itself at the door of the Capitol and, if this fascism wins, we will all lose our freedoms. »
Sign of electoral fervor for midterm elections, Monday, more than 40 million Americans had already expressed their choice in anticipation, indicated the TargetEarly site. This is 3 million more than during the same elections in 2018, but still much less than during the presidential election of 2020, where 89 million citizens had then voted in the days preceding the election.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty.