Biden celebrates Democratic success to avoid the Republican “wave”

Americans were eagerly awaiting the final outcome of the US midterm elections on Thursday, even though the president Joe Biden he was already celebrating what he says is a success by the Democrats in staving off the Republican “red wave.”

“It didn’t happen,” Biden, 79, said at a news conference on Wednesday, in his first speech since the polls closed. “It was a good day, I think, for democracy.”

As the vote count progresses, it is very likely that the Republicans will obtain a majority in the House of Representatives, but with a much smaller victory than they and the polls expected.

If current predictions hold true, this is the best-performing midterm election for the president and his party in two decades.

In the Senate, Democrats won a hotly contested seat, John Fetterman’s in Pennsylvania.

The final composition of the upper house now depends on three seats: Arizona and Nevada, where the vote count could take several more days, and Georgia, where a second round is scheduled for December 6.

reaching out

Combative and optimistic, Biden did not wait for the final results of the vote to celebrate that his formation has avoided a much greater setback than expected after the Republicans turned the campaign over to their inability to manage rising inflation.

His chief of staff, Ron Klain, joked about the public perception of the Biden administration: “Never underestimate how much the Biden team is underestimated.”

Later on Wednesday, addressing reporters at the White House, The president reiterated his “intention” to run for a second term in 2024, a decision that, he promised, will be taken “early next year.”

Biden also used the opportunity to reach out to the Republican opposition, saying he was open to all “good ideas.”

It was an opportunity for the president to put on his favorite suit, that of a centrist, displaying commitment, a profile shaped during his long career as a senator.

Early Wednesday afternoon, Biden contacted House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who is expected to become the next House speaker if his party wins the majority, the White House said.

All eyes on 2024

But Biden’s call for bipartisanship is likely to hit a Republican red wall.

Even with a slim majority in the lower house, Republicans will have significant oversight power, and they have promised to use it to launch investigations into Biden and his entourage.

Republicans are keen to exploit any potential missteps within the Democratic field with an eye toward the 2024 presidential election.

“I will lead the fight to make sure my party does not fail,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia congresswoman close to Trump, said in a statement.

But a good part of the eyes were already set on 2024 and the next presidential campaign.

Trump, who had bet on a resounding victory of his lieutenants to announce his candidacy for reelection, had to admit on Wednesday that the results of Tuesday’s elections were “somewhat disappointing.”

Although it did not take long for him to go to his social network, Truth Social, to clarify that “it was a very big victory.”

The 76-year-old former president had promised a “very big announcement” on November 15, apparently seeking to undermine one of his potential rivals for the Republican nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

But DeSantis came out of the election stronger, after winning re-election by a comfortable margin.

“We still have a lot to do and I have only just begun to fight,” promised the 44-year-old governor.

Asked Wednesday about the rivalry between Trump and DeSantis, President Biden limited himself to saying that “it will be fun to see how they face each other.”