Trump and Obama take leading campaign roles days before US congressional elections

Washington, United States. Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic former President Barack Obama both campaigned prominently on Wednesday, although neither is a candidate in the congressional elections due in under a week. The vote could change which party controls power in the US capital.

What is at stake

Next Tuesday, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and all 435 House of Representatives seats will be contested. Nonpartisan analysts generally give Democrats the edge in the race to win a House majority, while they regard the Senate contest as very close.

Trump’s campaign push

Trump has spent several weeks on an intensive campaign drive, which has highlighted Republican worries about losing control of Congress for the last two years of his term. His public approval rating has dropped to a level close to its record low, as Americans grow more dissatisfied with the high cost of living and the war with Iran. He nonetheless remains a driving force in the party and has worked hard to boost Republican turnout.

On Wednesday he spoke at a rally in a modest college gymnasium in Chillicothe, Ohio. He appeared alongside Ohio Senator Jon Husted, who is being challenged by Democratic former Senator Sherrod Brown.

Obama’s return to the trail

Obama had kept a fairly low public profile until the past week, when he delivered a series of sharply worded speeches criticizing Trump. On Wednesday he appeared in Morrow, Georgia, near Atlanta, and urged voters to back Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who is being challenged by Republican Representative Mike Collins.

Obama offered the familiar Democratic criticism of Trump over his tariffs and his decision to go to war in Iran. He also said the country’s values were at stake, invoking the vision of the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who is buried in Atlanta. “There is a moral component to the choices we face right now,” Obama said.

He argued that the broken system will not be repaired and the economy will not be freed from rigging while a culture persists in which anything is tolerated. In his words, this includes a culture where those in the nation’s highest offices consider lying, cheating and bullying acceptable, and where money is treated as the sole yardstick of personal worth.

Early voting

Americans have been casting ballots for weeks. According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, 40 million ballots have already been cast. In the previous midterm elections in 2022, a total of 45.9 million Americans voted early.