[특파원이 간다] In the hurricane: mid-term elections in the United States between inflation and Trump variables

◀ reporter ▶

This is Wang Jong-myung, Washington correspondent.

I am now in Florida, in the southeastern United States.

It’s been more than a month since the fifth hurricane in American history hit, but the ruins remain and the mid-term elections are only a day away.

Let’s take a look at how voters vote in the midst of a disaster and look at the situation in Florida, a traditional competition site, to assess the overall situation in the United States in the midterm elections.

◀ Report ▶

The coast where a super hurricane landed for the first time in 100 years is swampy … I can’t even get my hands on it.

Building debris piles up near the road and only pillars remain, whether it’s a shopping mall or a house.

With a strong wind of 240 km / h, the boat flew over another boat or in a residential area.

At least 114 people killed, 6 million people displaced and 85 trillion won in property damage explain Florida’s injuries.

No one can predict when these ruins will return to their original shape.

[미셸/플로리다 주민]

“For now, I’ve only cleaned the outside, but it will take at least three years. Too much destruction.”

[존 라벨/자원 봉사자]

“They say it usually takes about five years to restore a community. Five years.”

However you have to vote.

Florida is encouraging voting by extending the back and forth early voting period in three hurricane-affected areas.

It is true that getting to the polling station is difficult in itself.

[로라/플로리다 주민]

“Now it’s getting better, but we had to come up with a plan to help people get to the polling station before the roads were closed.”

Some voters refused to vote.

It is also due to the hurricane, but there is no right candidate for which party to vote.

[에릭/플로리다 주민]

“Democrats are dissatisfied with what they did during the coronavirus pandemic and Republicans generally hate it. So now they don’t like them both.”

As immigrants pour into the country and the white population dwindles, Florida has traditionally been a disputed land for Democrats and Republicans.

In the last two elections, the Republican Party had the upper hand, but once again the Republican governor is well prepared for the hurricane.

[노상범/플로리다주 탬파대학교 교수]

“The distress call was delivered quickly and help to recover the damage came quickly (I know.)”

Due to this competitive landscape, public opinion polls continue that the Republican Party will win ten or more seats in the House of Representatives and change the majority in the United States as a whole.

It is said that “the winner of the US elections is determined by the price of oil,” so the intensity of the judgment against the Biden administration, which has failed to keep up with inflation, is variable.

Another point to keep an eye on is that if the Republican Party wins, it will become a stepping stone to Trump’s re-election.

Trump himself has become an electoral problem amidst conflicting nostalgia and dislike for him.

[트럼프 지지자]

“Download Trump in 2024. They will overthrow him. Just believe in Trump.”

[캐서린(트럼프 반대)]

“Trump is a criminal. He needs to go to prison right now. Now his followers are protecting him.”

Since the ruling party has only won three times in history, the mid-term elections are called “the grave of the incumbent president”, but for now it is very likely that they will be repeated in these elections as well.

Hence, the Democrats mobilized all the people who could vote to consolidate the overthrow of the Republican Party.

[버락 오바마/전 미국 대통령(민주당)]

“Mid-term elections are usually more difficult for Democrats. Them[gli elettori]they probably think Congress doesn’t really matter. ”

[도널드 트럼프/전 미국 대통령(공화당)]

“Maybe I’ll come back to make America successful, safe and glorious.”

The results of these mid-term elections could be a political stepping stone or a swamp for anyone running for the next presidential election.

In this way, the presidential elections of 2024 seem to have already begun.

This is Jongmyung Wang of MBC News from Florida.

Video Coverage: Kim Tae-hyo / Video Editing: Jo Ara

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