Biden, Obama, Trump descend on key state

Americans decide which party controls Congress tomorrow

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden, Democratic superstar Barack Obama and Republican firebrand Donald Trump all converged on Saturday on Pennsylvania to push their parties to the finishing line in a race Biden said marks a “defining” moment for US democracy.

The battle of the serving and two former presidents marked the start of a final crescendo before tomorrow when Americans will decide which party controls Congress during the last two years of Biden’s first term.

Polls put Republicans well ahead in the fight for the House of

Representatives and also show them with momentum in the Senate as voters, already riled up by culture wars around gay rights and abortion, seek to take out frustration over four-decades-high inflation and rising illegal immigration.

With Pennsylvania one of the handful of swing states that will decide the overall balance of power, both sides brought out their big guns.

Biden and Obama rallied in Philadelphia alongside Senate candidate John Fetterman and governor candidate Josh Shapiro.

Trump – who was defeated by

Biden in 2020 but has spent the interval promoting conspiracy theories and plotting a possible White House comeback – flew to Latrobe to boost Fetterman’s opponent, TV celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, and Shapiro’s far-right opponent Doug Mastriano.

Speaking to thousands in a Philadelphia arena, Biden and the Democratic candidates labelled the Republicans as the party of the wealthy and emphasised their support for trade unions, social security and abortion access.

Voters face “a choice between two vastly different visions of America”, Biden said.

But Biden, citing Trump Republicans’ growing support for conspiracy theories, said an even bigger agenda was at stake.

“Democracy is literally on the ballot. This is a defining moment for the nation and we all, we all must speak with one voice.”

Obama, who had also addressed an earlier rally in Pittsburgh, got the loudest cheers of the night, repeatedly urging supporters to make sure they vote.

“Fundamental rights..., reason and decency are on the ballot,” he said, attacking Republicans as increasingly averse to everything from science to respect for rules.

“Democracy itself is on the ballot. The stakes are high.”

In Latrobe, Trump was tapping into support from a working class region that delivered him big margins in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Success for candidates he supports tomorrow would help Trump launch his own comeback campaign, despite facing serious legal threats over attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat and the hoarding of top secret documents from the White House at his Florida golf resort.

One supporter arriving early for the rally, Shawn Ecker Grey, 44, voiced excitement about a possible Trump candidacy for 2024.

“We need our country back. We really do. And it’s not going to happen if someone doesn’t stand up like he is.”