In a speech Thursday night from Philadelphia, the president is expected to highlight a series of threats to the nation’s democracy pushed by Trump-friendly Republicans. These include the denial of the 2020 election results, the downplaying of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and recent attacks on law enforcement entities such as the FBI after it searched the former president’s Florida estate as part of an investigation for handling classified documents. “[Biden] will speak to how this nation’s core values ​​— our place in the world, our democracy — are at stake,” a White House official said. “He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms continue to be under attack. And it will clarify who is fighting for these rights, for these freedoms and for our democracy.” The theme of the speech underscores the extent to which Democrats are pinning their hopes of retaining control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections on creating sharp and increasingly sharp confrontations with Trump and his Republican allies — a formula that has worked for Biden in the 2020 presidential race. In May, Biden referred to the Republican party as the “most extreme political organization” in recent US history. Democrats have trailed Republicans politically for most of the year due to voter dissatisfaction with high inflation, rising gas prices and Biden’s own low approval ratings. But they have recently regained some of their ground because of the Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights, which has energized the Democratic base. Meanwhile, a number of legislative achievements, including the passage of Biden’s flagship climate, tax and health care bills and the fallout from the Trump investigation, have also added to the Democratic momentum. “Vote for me and prosperity, or Trump and fascism, is the starkest way to put it — that’s the angle that Biden is working with,” said Mark Rohm, a political science professor at Georgetown University. “It’s not just Trump keeping top secret documents, but it’s one after another with Trump, it’s this whole litany.” Biden offered a preview of his message Tuesday during another appearance in Pennsylvania, a key state with important Senate and gubernatorial races in November. He argued that Republicans could no longer be considered the party of law and order if they remained under Trump and tolerated political violence. “Either you’re on the side of a mob or the side of the police. You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurgency,” Biden said. He also took a thinly veiled jab at Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, for predicting there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump was impeached. “A safer America requires all of us to uphold the rule of law, not the rule of one party or one person. Let’s be clear: you hear some of my friends on the other side talking about political violence and how it’s necessary,” Biden said, adding, “It’s never appropriate. Never. Period.” A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 67 percent of Americans believe the nation’s democracy is “at risk of collapse” — a 9 percent jump from earlier this year — suggesting it’s an issue that has appeal to many voters. “It’s kind of a rare, bipartisan issue that Biden will try to leverage to see if he can use it against Republicans,” said Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia’s politics center. “Really focusing on democracy is probably one way Democrats are trying to get voters to stick with the devil they know.”

One risk for Biden to focus on threats to democracy heading into the midterms is that he could appear to be distracting from issues like high prices, which Republicans focus relentlessly on in their campaign ads. However, Democrats believe that sharp confrontations with Republicans have already had a positive impact on their midterm prospects. According to the Realclearpolitics.com average, the Republican lead on the general congressional ballot, which was 2.5 percentage points six weeks ago, has all but been erased to a very slim advantage of 0.2 percentage points.

title: “Joe Biden Will Intensify Attacks On Extreme Republicans Ahead Of The Midterm Elections Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-08” author: “Trent Wong”

In a speech Thursday night from Philadelphia, the president is expected to highlight a series of threats to the nation’s democracy pushed by Trump-friendly Republicans. These include the denial of the 2020 election results, the downplaying of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and recent attacks on law enforcement entities such as the FBI after it searched the former president’s Florida estate as part of an investigation for handling classified documents. “[Biden] will speak to how this nation’s core values ​​— our place in the world, our democracy — are at stake,” a White House official said. “He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms continue to be under attack. And it will clarify who is fighting for these rights, for these freedoms and for our democracy.” The theme of the speech underscores the extent to which Democrats are pinning their hopes of retaining control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections on creating sharp and increasingly sharp confrontations with Trump and his Republican allies — a formula that has worked for Biden in the 2020 presidential race. In May, Biden referred to the Republican party as the “most extreme political organization” in recent US history. Democrats have trailed Republicans politically for most of the year due to voter dissatisfaction with high inflation, rising gas prices and Biden’s own low approval ratings. But they have recently regained some of their ground because of the Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights, which has energized the Democratic base. Meanwhile, a number of legislative achievements, including the passage of Biden’s flagship climate, tax and health care bills and the fallout from the Trump investigation, have also added to the Democratic momentum. “Vote for me and prosperity, or Trump and fascism, is the starkest way to put it — that’s the angle that Biden is working with,” said Mark Rohm, a political science professor at Georgetown University. “It’s not just Trump keeping top secret documents, but it’s one after another with Trump, it’s this whole litany.” Biden offered a preview of his message Tuesday during another appearance in Pennsylvania, a key state with important Senate and gubernatorial races in November. He argued that Republicans could no longer be considered the party of law and order if they remained under Trump and tolerated political violence. “Either you’re on the side of a mob or the side of the police. You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurgency,” Biden said. He also took a thinly veiled jab at Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, for predicting there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump was impeached. “A safer America requires all of us to uphold the rule of law, not the rule of one party or one person. Let’s be clear: you hear some of my friends on the other side talking about political violence and how it’s necessary,” Biden said, adding, “It’s never appropriate. Never. Period.” A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 67 percent of Americans believe the nation’s democracy is “at risk of collapse” — a 9 percent jump from earlier this year — suggesting it’s an issue that has appeal to many voters. “It’s kind of a rare, bipartisan issue that Biden will try to leverage to see if he can use it against Republicans,” said Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia’s politics center. “Really focusing on democracy is probably one way Democrats are trying to get voters to stick with the devil they know.”

One risk for Biden to focus on threats to democracy heading into the midterms is that he could appear to be distracting from issues like high prices, which Republicans focus relentlessly on in their campaign ads. However, Democrats believe that sharp confrontations with Republicans have already had a positive impact on their midterm prospects. According to the Realclearpolitics.com average, the Republican lead on the general congressional ballot, which was 2.5 percentage points six weeks ago, has all but been erased to a very slim advantage of 0.2 percentage points.