Republicans seize upper hand in US election polls

Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago

New polls are showing that the Democratic Party has lost significant momentum less than three weeks before the United States goes to vote in midterm legislative elections.

The last month has seen a 5-point shift overall in favor of the Republican Party. That is fueled by a whopping 13-point shift among independent voters, who now comprise the largest unofficial political party.
Record inflation, long-term recession, a costly, hard-line approach to the unrest in Ukraine, dissatisfaction with the results of the so-called “Blue Wave” of 2020 - many are trying to pinpoint the reason for the recent drop for Democrats.

Other new surveys confirm the dip in Democratic support: President Joe Biden has become so unpopular that he would now lose to Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup; 2/3rds of the country thinks America is on the wrong track, almost a record high; the turnout rate of Republican voters is polling to run 4 points higher than the turnout by perhaps-disillusioned Democratic voters. However, Western polling agencies have been continually off the mark in recent years.

The shift seems to insure that Republicans will gain the majority of the lower house of Congress, while control of the upper house remains too close to call. With a Democratic president that would translate into a divided government, and in a country where political divisions have exploded and hardened.

The biggest issue may not be the polls or even the results, but how many candidates on both sides refuse to accept the results. Many wonder if the disputed 2016 and 2020 votes have permanently ingrained the idea that elections are illegitimate.

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