If one were superstitious, one could see this as a bad omen. Two hours before US President Joe Biden’s announced speech on Tuesday evening, the sky is darkening more and more, it has become cold.
The gusts become more violent, they pull on the cardboard signs, on the protective covers of the numerous cameras, and they tear the large US flag opposite the pedestal, on which Biden is about to heat up the somewhat lame atmosphere, from its holder. The folders have to be removed. Ill-meaning commentators are sure to come up with an end-of-time headline – to make it clear that this government is going downhill in the country.
The Democrats also want to save their country from ruin. Before what threatens if Donald Trump returns. That is why in these weeks every decision is hyped up as a choice between two extremes. Also the upcoming gubernatorial election in Virginia, the outcome of which is much more difficult to predict than a few months ago.
Here he is greeted with “We love Joe” shouts
On the one hand, according to this reading, there are the successful efforts of the current government to get the corona pandemic under control, to improve the health care and security of citizens from gun violence, as well as the education system, equality and infrastructure in the country. On the other hand, the Republicans who are still trump-subordinated are just waiting to turn back all progress and undermine democracy.
“We cannot allow that,” Biden calls out to the organizers, around 2500 supporters who have come to Arlington to be mobilized in the final spurt of the election campaign. The jubilation shows that it works quite well this evening. Here in the commuter suburb of the American capital, the president is greeted with “We love Joe” shouts.
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It’s his second appearance to promote Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe – and warn of Republican Glenn Youngkin, a former fund manager, who Trump supports. But it is not just the president who is re-entering the election campaign just nine months after taking office.
Kamala Harris is also campaigning
Vice President Kamala Harris will also perform with McAuliffe for the second time on Friday. And on Saturday, ex-President Barack Obama campaigned in the state capital Richmond for the 64-year-old entrepreneur, who ruled Virginia from 2014 to 2018 as governor.
[Lesen Sie hier zudem ein Porträt der US-Vizepräsidentin: Scheitert Kamala Harris an den enormen Erwartungen? (T+)]
The fact that the Democrats are sending so many heavyweights into an isolated regional election campaign shows how important they are to this – far beyond the Commonwealth of Virginia. And how much they fear that their supporters will stay at home on election day.
There are great concerns that the current negative mood could solidify. Biden’s approval ratings have dropped sharply in the past few weeks. There are several reasons for this, for example the chaos during the Afghanistan withdrawal in the summer, the faltering vaccination campaign and rising inflation.
Biden has to fight for his major projects – with his own party
But one reason is also Biden’s difficulties in getting his most important political projects – billion dollar investments in infrastructure and the welfare state – through Congress despite majorities in both chambers. These majorities are tight, and they could be lost completely in the 2022 midterm elections.
Democrats are known for delivering, said Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the association of Democrats at the federal level, in Richmond on Saturday. “And we delivered.”
[Lesen Sie zudem eine Analyse zu den Republikanern: Machthungrig, konservativ, weiblich – Die Zukunft der Republikaner liegt in der Hand von Frauen (T+)]
Only if Virginia remains democratic – here Republicans have not won a nationwide election since 2009 – can it be prevented that everything is reversed. “We are the wall between hope and chaos,” says Harrison. The wall that protects against Trump.
What if the Democrats don’t deliver?
That is exactly where the problem lies – when the Democrats do not deliver because they cannot find a compromise between their various positions, for example on the subject of tax increases. Then a losing election in Virginia could be seen as the first domino to be followed by many.
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Barack Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson, who won Virginia in 1964, in 2009. This victory should not only be permanent, it should be taken as proof that the majority situation is shifting permanently in favor of the Democrats, even in a long conservative southern state. That is now suddenly in question again.
Barack Obama intervenes
That’s why Obama stands on Saturday on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in front of maybe 400, mostly younger listeners, in white shirts and no jackets, and shouts: “We can’t afford to be tired!” Yes, that’s all exhausting, but it doesn’t help. Because: It’s about America’s democracy.
For a long time, the still highly respected ex-president held back with such appearances. The danger that the brilliant speaker could steal the show from his former vice-president was overestimated.
Biden’s rhetorical qualities are actually rather manageable in comparison. But now it’s all about, nobody can hold back.
So Obama does what he always did: he entertains, motivates and mobilizes his listeners by showing the big lines. For 30 minutes he speaks about what has been achieved so far and what is now at stake. “I want you to burn from the inside out and then vote!” He says. “Just booing is not enough!” Its effect is still enormous.
At the end of the week, Joe Biden will travel to Europe
On Tuesday, however, the current president will also show himself from his better side. He tackles Trump head-on, ignoring the provocations of isolated demonstrators with a joke, and at the end of his speech he vigorously shouts one after another: “Vote, vote, vote!”. His last words are drowned out in the rhythmic clapping of the audience.
Then he drives back to the White House, where work is waiting. The President wants to know his budget in the towel before he sets off on his second trip to Europe at the end of the week. He needs success here at least as much as he did in the Virginia election.
Just before Biden leaves for Arlington on Tuesday, White House correspondents report that Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have just arrived. Biden has to convince the two conservative Democrats to implement his reforms and improve the lives of Americans as promised – at the same time he has to satisfy the left wing of his party to some extent. Anything other than an easy task.
But at least it was recently said that a compromise was emerging and could possibly be found on Wednesday. Perhaps the signs for the Democrats and their President are not so bad after all.
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