Who will comeup trumps?
us gives verdict on divisive don
MARRED by pipe bombs, a politically charged mass shooting and a caravan of immigrants heading towards the border, today’s mid-term elections show the States to be anything but united.
Since he took office in January 2017, Donald Trump has dragged the US towards this day of reckoning which will provide us with the first official measure of whether the love for him is exceeded by the loathing.
There is no question the divisions he has sparked go deep.
Families have been torn apart, marriages have broken down and countless friendships have been ended over who Americans are voting for today.
As a result, early indications show these midterms could have one of the biggest turnouts by voters in decades.
Despite not being on the ballot, the president has sought to put himself front and centre.
“I’m not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me,” he told his supporters in Southaven, Mississippi.
“I want you to vote. Pretend I’m on the ballot.”
It is, many believe, the only hope the Republican party has of not losing control of the Senate. Where Trump’s predecessors have sought to use the mid-terms to build bridges and unite, the US leader has once again, purposefully, defied the norm.
There is no question he has lost a vast swathe of the electorate for good. He is once again embracing the politics of division across race, gender and religion in the hope of firing up his base support.
The president has not backed away from the incendiary politics his critics warn has fostered recent violence. Quite the opposite.
Rather than tone down his rhetoric he has, as promised, “toned it up”. There is no half-way house with Trump.
To those outside his fan club, the president is despised, disputed or doubted.
To his detractors, he is no more than a liar and a cheat who demeans the Oval Office.
But inside the club, it could not be more different.
His Republican supporters vent their fury at Democrats and the media, blaming them for the president’s failings while repeating his incendiary language.
Even more worrying, they hold dear and promote Trump’s conspiracy theories and echo his dark fear of immigrants.
And, like him, the president’s most enthusiastic supporters are not swayed by any facts they consider inconvenient.
Trump tells them the economy is booming and that they have never had it so good – and they believe him – while the attacks on him only serve to strengthen their belief in him, no matter what.
It may yet be what saves him from the hammering many predict his candidates will today receive.
The Democrats, with Barack Obama active in the campaign, appear poised to win the House of Representatives popular vote by a wide margin, as polls show sustained disapproval of Trump.
And yet the fate of the chamber is not a foregone conclusion.
Like the 2016 presidential election, though the Democrats could acquire more votes, if they are not gained in the right areas Trump could see his Teflon Don nickname remain intact.
Americans face a choice that could shape the nation for years but crucially the vote could set Trump up for another term in what has now become known as the Fight House.
This is a referendum about me. I want you to pretend I’m on the ballot
DONALD TRUMP IN MESSAGE TO SUPPORTERS AT RALLY