(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden expressed confidence that there was still time for Democrats to stave off a loss of their House and Senate majorities with two weeks to go until the Nov. 8 midterms and the latest polling favoring Republicans.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden expressed confidence that there was still time for Democrats to stave off a loss of their House and Senate majorities with two weeks to go until the Nov. 8 midterms and the latest polling favoring Republicans.
“We’re running against the tide, and we’re beating the tide,” Biden said Monday during a visit to Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington that was meant to rally staff for the final stretch of the campaign.
“I can’t think of a more consequential election that I’ve been involved in and we’ve been involved in,” he told the group, adding, “When we get people out to vote we win, and you’re getting them out to vote.”
Yet Republicans have double-digit advantages over Democrats on issues most important to voters, including inflation, the economy, gas prices and crime, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. Those gains stunted Democratic momentum stemming from the Supreme Court’s decision in June overturning nationwide abortion rights and from backlash to former President Donald Trump’s conduct.
Biden has sought to make the election into a choice between Democrats’ policies and a Republican Party he has painted as extreme. He regularly contrasts achievements, including his landmark health and climate law, with GOP lawmakers’ plans to slash Medicare and Social Security and extend Trump’s tax cuts.
“Everybody wants to make it a referendum, but it’s a choice between two vastly different visions for America,” he said Monday, adding that Republicans have “stated boldly that they want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and to the point that they’ll shut down the government.”
The president again chastised Republicans for threatening to use the US debt limit as leverage to gain entitlement cuts.
“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.”
Republicans, in turn, have framed the midterms as a referendum on Biden, whose approval ratings have sank amid record inflation and fears of an oncoming recession. The president has made few campaign stops in the closing weeks for candidates running in close races.
“The only Democrats willing to welcome Joe Biden at this point are paid DNC employees who work in Washington, D.C.,” Republican National Committee Spokesperson Emma Vaughn said in a statement. “Meanwhile, down-ballot Democrats across the country are desperate to hide their Biden voting records.”
Read more: Unpopular Biden Shuns Obama-Trump Midterm Travel Strategy
Biden is scheduled to travel to Philadelphia on Friday for a Democratic Party dinner. He’s also traveling to Syracuse, New York, on Thursday to speak about Micron Technology Inc.’s plans to build a chip manufacturing facility. The area is represented by a Republican in the House — John Katko — who is not seeking re-election.
Biden on Wednesday will appear at “virtual political receptions” for House lawmakers from Nevada, Iowa and Pennsylvania, according to the White House.
The Pennsylvania lawmaker is Matt Cartwright, whose district includes Scranton, Biden’s birthplace.
–With assistance from Justin Sink.
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