Not up for election, but still the focus: American President Joe Biden.
Image: AP
The congressional election is not just about a referendum on Joe Biden. But about the stability of American democracy.
Joe Biden is not standing for election in the congressional elections. Nevertheless, they help to decide his future, which is why the American President looks at them with nervous tension. If things turn out the way they almost always did in the past, then “his” Democrats will suffer a severe setback in the elections. For Biden, already moderately popular, governing will become even more difficult afterwards. He threatens to become a “lame duck” at an early age.
The Democrats have had painful experiences with the “midterms” after previous victories in presidential elections. In 1994, when Clinton was President, she lost 54 seats and the majority in the House of Representatives. Also in 2010, when Obama was in office for almost two years, the big chamber was lost to her. Under the influence of the Tea Party zealots, a new phase of deadlock and ideological confrontation between Congress and the Executive began.