“There is no place for political violence”, has struck thursday 1er September Joe Biden in Philadelphia in an unusually virulent speech very clearly directed against Donald Trump. For the Democrat, the former American president ” and MAGA Republicans [Pour « Make America Great Again », l’un des slogans de Donald Trump] represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic. » “Equality and democracy are under attack” currently in the United States, also warned the American president who was addressing, a rare thing, in “prime time”at 8 p.m. (2 a.m. in France), to his compatriots.
Behind him, standing out all lit up against the night sky, is Independence Hall, the red brick building where the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution were adopted. It was also in Philadelphia that Joe Biden held his first meeting as a presidential candidate. The 79-year-old Democrat knows that Pennsylvania, the state where Philadelphia is located, may hold the key to the November legislative elections. And therefore the rest of his mandate.
Representatives of the radical right “applaud the anger. They feed on chaos. They do not live in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies” chanted the American president, who wants to galvanize the Democratic electorate and convince the undecided.
American democracy is not ” guarantee “ and “we have to defend it”, he will also say, according to the excerpts of speeches communicated in advance by the White House. And attack those he calls the “MAGA forces” (For “Make America Great Again”, one of Donald Trump’s slogans), who, according to him, would like an America “without the right to privacy, without the right to contraception, without the right to marry whoever you love”. In short: who subscribe to the ideology of the former president and to the projects of the hard religious right.
A battle for America’s soul
Joe Biden “never backs down when it comes to talking about his predecessor (…) but this is not a speech about the former president”, had assured shortly before his spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, during his daily briefing. And it will also be about being ” optimistic “she added, explaining: “When we talk about extremism, it only concerns a very small part of the American population. »
Joe Biden wants, more broadly, to talk about the ” battle “ to carry out for “Soul of America”, a refrain that had already chanted his campaign. Once elected, this veteran politician bet that the ” battle “ would be carried out through dialogue with well-meaning conservative elected officials, and through reforms in favor of the middle class. But the great air of reconciliation has been muted.
Each favorable poll encourages Joe Biden to let go, he who recently accused supporters of Donald Trump of adhering to an ideology of “semi-fascism”. The term has outraged the conservative camp, which accuses the president of stoking divisions.
Kevin McCarthy, an elected Republican who covets the prestigious leadership of the House of Representatives, accused Joe Biden on Thursday of “demonize” of the “Tens of millions of hard-working, law-abiding Americans. »
Democrats rise in the polls
According to a poll released Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, if the mid-term legislative elections were held today, 47% of voters would vote Democrat, and 44% Republican. The right still had a 5-point lead in March.
The Democrats thus begin to dream of a feat during this election which renews the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate, and which is traditionally unfavorable to the party represented in the White House.
Inflation subsided, while Joe Biden pushed through a series of reforms, and announced the death of the leader of Al-Qaeda in an American strike. Enough to blunt two main campaign axes of the Republicans: the defense of purchasing power, and the skills of the oldest president ever elected in the United States.
Several polls show a rise in power of subjects that favor the Democrats, for example the defense of the right to abortion and the achievements of society, in the face of Republicans now perceived as reactionary by part of the electorate.
There is also the concern for democracy and the rejection of political violence, concerns that always end up revolving around Donald Trump.
The Democratic Party, if it loses the House of Representatives, hopes to keep its majority in the Senate, which means winning Pennsylvania. Joe Biden has already been there on Tuesday and will return there on Monday. Donald Trump will go to this state so courted on Saturday.