With US midterm polls just over two weeks away, Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds where, according to analysts, the future of reproductive rights and democracy itself will be determined. The Senate seat in the swing state is hotly contested as Democrats and Republicans fight for control of the US Congress. While President Joe Biden has been warning Americans that democracy is under threat from a faction of Republicans, analysts are skeptical if this narrative would impact the voters’ decision.
In a rare prime-time speech last month, Biden termed Donald Trump and his supporters “a threat” to the country, claiming that the Republican Party is “dominated and intimidated” by the former president. Later at a Democratic National Committee meeting in Maryland, Biden made a reference to the January 6 Capitol Hill attack, stating that extreme Make America Great Again or MAGA Republicans not only pose a threat to personal and economic rights but also “embrace political violence”.
These repeated reminders about US democracy being “under threat”, combined with concerns about the Supreme Court’s overturning of the abortion rights verdict, seem to be at the heart of Biden’s messaging ahead of the polls. But voters in President Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, appear oblivious to his warnings about the future of democracy.
While Biden is not on the ballot this election, midterm polls are generally seen as a referendum on the incumbent president.
James Kolsovsky, 36, who owns a coffee shop in Scranton, is an undecided voter. He says it is the economy that matters the most to him. “The increase in gas prices hurt the people and the Biden administration has been failing to do something about it,” he tells India Today, adding that the President did not deliver on his promises.
“The political battle between Democrats and Republicans does not concern me,” he says, expressing his disinterest in Biden’s claims that democracy is at risk.
Sabrina Iva, 42, another business owner in Scranton, says the rising crime rate in Pennsylvania is being ignored by mainstream media during the election coverage.
“Public safety should be at the forefront of coverage. By emphasising how dangerous Donald Trump is and failing to admit his own administration’s shortcomings in addressing public safety issues, President Biden is not helping his case,” she adds.
While most voters India Today spoke to termed the economy the deciding factor for the election, a number of young people seemed to agree that election deniers pose a threat to democracy. Edward Myers, 28, a student at the University of Scranton, says Trumpism and its impact on democracy is a crucial issue this election. He, however, adds that most people in Scranton are less likely to take this threat seriously and would vote on the basis of issues facing their communities.
Meanwhile, some analysts think Democrats have failed to effectively highlight the threats to democracy during their election campaigns.
Earlier this month, Politico reported that less than 2 per cent of ads run for House Democrats included a mention of the Capitol Hill attack. Aaron Blake, a senior political reporter, termed this inaction a problem.
“This lacuna in their messaging comes even as most House Republicans supported Trump’s baseless last-ditch election challenges that led to the attack on the Capitol, and even as a majority of the GOP’s most prominent candidates have either denied or questioned the 2020 election results,” he wrote in his recent op-ed for Washington Post.
This article first appeared on India Today.
