CAN THE REPUBLICANS RIDE THE WAVE?
to ride, rode, ridden a wave (fig.) surfer sur une vague / midterm elections élections de mi-mandat / blue couleur des Démocrates / to swamp submerger / generic ballot poll enquête consistant à demander aux électeurs pour quel parti ils comptent voter (plutôt que le nom du candidat pour qui ils vont voter); ballot scrutin, vote / tight ici, proche, serré / to flip ici, faire basculer / seat siège (au Congrès) / House = House of Representatives / forthcoming futur, prochain / heavily ici, très / turnout participation (électorale). As the US midterm elections get closer, political commentators are wondering whether a Democratic blue wave will swamp Congress and if so, how big it will be. The generic ballot polls have shown stronger support for Democrats than Republicans (although the estimate numbers have been tight on several occasions) and recent events have created a possible scenario where Democrats could manage to flip 24 Republican-held seats to take control of the House. Last August, the results from the special election in Ohio’s 12th District — the last planned special election ahead of the midterms — were good indicators for the Democrats’ expected forthcoming victory, as Republican candidate Troy Balderson only won the election by a very small margin, in a heavily conservative district where Trump and Pence made personal appearances. In addition, a high number of Republicans are retiring from Congress and the turnout is expected to be high on the Democratic side. However, most commentators think that the Democrats won’t be able to take the Senate.