Barack Obama campaigns for Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan
With one week to go until the final day of voting in the midterm elections, Joe Biden is headed to Florida to campaign with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who is fighting an uphill battle to unseat Governor Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama is continuing his late-in-the-game tour of crucial states as the Democrats try and drive up voter enthusiasm and turnout among their base. He will be campaigning together with Mr Biden this weekend.
Control of the US Senate still hangs in the balance as new polls show Democrats narrowly ahead or tied in key states.
According to one survey from The New York Times and Siena College, Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock are all ahead by 3-6 points. Were all three to win, that would represent a net pickup of one seat for the Democrats.
However, should Mr Warnock finish with under 50 per cent of the vote after 8 November, he and Mr Walker will be forced into a January runoff election.
Biden closes out remarks by asking God to enlighten Republicans
“God bless you all, God protect our troops, and God give some of our Republican friends some enlightenment.”
Oliver O’Connell1 November 2022 19:38
Biden warns voters Florida voters of GOP threat to social security and medicare
In remarks to voters in Hallandale Beach, Florida, President Joe Biden warned of the Republican Party’s plans to take on Social Security and Medicare that many older voters rely on.
“You’ve been paying into Social Security your whole life. You earned it. Now these guys want to take it away. Who in the hell do they think they are? Excuse my language.”
“If Republicans in Congress have their way, the power we just gave Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices goes away,” Mr Biden said.
“The $2,000 cap on prescription drugs goes away. The $35-a-month cap on insulin for Medicare — gone. The savings on health care premiums of $800 a year for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act — gone.”
“And folks it gets even worse. They’re coming after Social Security and Medicare in a big way,” the president said.
“Folks here in Florida, you need to know this… Because your own Senator, Senator Rick Scott…He has laid out a clear plan. He said every five years that Social Security and Medicare would have to be reauthorised.”
Oliver O’Connell1 November 2022 19:33
Cheney: ‘I would not vote for JD Vance’
Republican Rep Liz Cheney told an audience that were she a voter in Ohio, she would not be voting for her party’s Senate candidate, author JD Vance.
The Wyoming representative said she would chose Democrat Tim Ryan if she were casting a ballot in the Buckeye state.
Oliver O’Connell1 November 2022 19:15
Schwarzenegger offers pep talk to poll workers
Poll workers in North Carolina yesterday received a pep talk from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former California governor who has increasingly spoken out in defence of democracy since the January 6 riot.
At one point in his talk, he was interrupted by a pet.
Oliver O’Connell1 November 2022 18:45
Why Marcus Flowers insists he can defeat Marjorie Taylor Greene
The military veteran tells The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe why he could be the first Democrat to represent Georgia’s 14th congressional district in 30 years.
Oliver O’Connell1 November 2022 18:15
Liz Cheney hints at endorsements to come
Outgoing Congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans on the January 6 committee, has hitned in an interview today that she may yet endorse more Democratic candidates between now and the last day of voting on Tuesday.
Her first endorsement of the cycle went to Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who is fighting to keep her redistricted seat against a Republican rival who has propagated false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election.
Andrew Naughtie1 November 2022 17:45
Everything to know about Herschel Walker
Of all the Trump-backed candidates to have caused trouble for the Republicans this year, none have made so lurid a spectacle as Herschel Walker, the struggling Georgia Senate nominee whose problems are too numerous to list in full.
From allegations of domestic violence to allegations of paying for abortions to his repeated false claims about his career, educational history and non-existent stint in law enforcement, Mr Walker’s story has only grown more bizarre as the campaign wears on.
Here’s Graziosi Graig with a profile.
Andrew Naughtie1 November 2022 17:15
Analysis: The five Senate seats most likely to flip
In today’s Inside Washington dispatch, Eric Garcia takes stock of the Senate map and ranks the five seats most likely to flip. If all five of his choices changed hands and the rest of this year’s races resulted in holds, the effect would be a net loss of one seat for the Democrats, handing Republicans the Senate majority.
Find out which states he’s picked and why below.
Andrew Naughtie1 November 2022 16:45
Biden to Florida
Joe Biden is jetting down to Florida to appear alongside gubernatorial candidate (and former governor) Charlie Crist, whom is almost universally expected to lose his race to incumbent GOP Governor Ron DeSantis.
According to the White House, the trip is a golden opportunity for Mr Biden to draw sharp distinctions between the two parties.
Andrew Naughtie1 November 2022 16:22
Pennsylvania: Mehmet Oz ridiculed for basic geography blunder
While Pennsylvania borders the Delaware River, which leads to Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, it isn’t actually a coastal state.
Andrew Naughtie1 November 2022 16:00