The Democratic Party has avoided the announced debacle and the US president, Joe Biden, has survived the scrutiny of the voters in the mid-term elections, in English. The smile on his face as he appraised post-election day at the White House last night describes his sense of relief. Encouraged by the fact of having stopped the red wave, the president assured that he intends to stand for re-election in the 2024 presidential elections, but also said that the final decision will be made at the beginning of next year.
"Our (he and his wife, Jill Biden) intention is to present ourselves again. That has been our intention, regardless of the outcome of these elections," he replied to one of the journalists who had asked him about his plans. However, he was also cautious in saying that it is a matter that he should discuss with his wife and his family before making a final decision, which will be announced "early next year". "I'm not in a hurry," he added.
It is not clear that the midterm results will be enough to allow Biden to govern strongly in his second term. Although the Democrats have performed better than expected, the foreseeable loss of the majority in the House of Representatives (they currently have 191 seats against the 209 of the Republicans, while the recount continues in Arizona and Nevada) makes it more difficult for the president to carry carry out its agenda for the next two years. Hence, Biden yesterday invited the Republicans to make bipartisan pacts.
The other issue is doubts about his ability to continue in office. With Biden approaching his 80th birthday, 58% of voters believe he does not have the mental capacity to serve effectively as president, according to an AP VoteCast poll, which also found that 44% of those interviewed believed he was an honest president and only 34% saw him as a "strong leader".
Overall, 57% of voters said they had an unfavorable opinion of Biden. His approval ratings on the economy, energy policy and border security were rock-bottom. Even his dealing with Russia, widely seen as a success for Biden as he maintains an international coalition to oppose the Ukraine invasion, is viewed negatively. His lukewarm ratings were fueled by strongly negative views among Republicans, but even Democratic voters avoided expressing outright support.
Another survey, conducted among more than 94,000 voters across the country, concluded that 65% of those surveyed voted for Democratic candidates to avoid greater damage: the return of former Republican President Donald Trump, compared to 50% of those who chose the Democrats to show their support for the president, according to the poll prepared by NORC at the University of Chicago for AP.
