Democrats, Trump hold final rallies

MIDTERM ELECTIONS: The latest polls show that Democrats are near certain to take the majority from Republicans in the House and have a real shot at winning the Senate

Democrats teed up final get-out-the-vote rallies on the eve of midterm elections where they expect to win at least partial control of Congress and impose political constraints on US President Donald Trump for the first time in two years.

Rallies — including by star Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas — were capping a campaign of breathtaking tension and bitterness.

For his closing argument, Trump chose a speech in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — a landmark that has become synonymous with the 80-year-old president’s obsessive, controversial drive to redevelop the US capital.

Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton, right, speaks to an attendee during a canvassing event in Wichita, Kansas, on Sunday.

Photo: AFP

“We’re going to win,” he said on Sunday.

However, polls show that Democrats are near certain to take the majority from Republicans in the House of Representatives and have a real shot at winning the currently Republican Senate.

Even winning just the House would mean Democrats have voting power over the federal budget and would lead powerful committees able to investigate alleged corruption under Trump, the Epstein files and other explosive issues.

The loss of total Republican dominance would push Trump into unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory: a lame-duck period beset with high inflation at home, the sputtering war against Iran and hostile Democratic investigations into his activities in Washington.

However, a decade into the Trump era, Democrats remain wary about predictions of victory.

“Nauseously optimistic,” Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told CNN to describe the mood.

Democrats are facing late internal divisions, with left-wing candidates clashing at times with the party’s establishment.

In a startling display of infighting on Sunday, Democratic Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers against left-wing progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in her state’s key Senate race.

Trump was quick to praise Stevens for her “bravery,” posting on social media that “Haley said what few people are willing to say.”

Stevens, who lost a bruising primary to El-Sayed in August despite being backed by the Democratic establishment, struggled to explain her decision in an interview with CNN.

“It’s just where I was at the end of the night and earlier this morning,” she said.

The Republicans have fought a political scorched-earth campaign, painting Democrats as communists and openly branding El-Sayed, who is Muslim, as a terrorist.

Addressing a crowd in Iowa on Sunday, Trump said Democrats are “extreme and dangerous radicals” who will “steal your wealth” and let in migrants to “ransack, rape and plunder.”

However, polls show Americans heavily souring on Trump’s wrecking-ball act.

An NBC News poll released on Sunday showed 60 percent disapprove of his performance, particularly over high prices exacerbated by his eight-month-long Iran war.

While the House seems highly likely to turn Democratic, the battle for the Senate is up in the air.

Only one-third of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested in these midterms, and few of the races were seen as favorable to Democrats.

However, with surprisingly strong challenges in deeply Republican states, pollsters now say the odds of a Democratic flip are at minimum even.

The final New York Times/Siena poll released on Sunday evening showed Democratic candidates leading in all seven seats viewed as most competitive, though five remained within the margin of error.

A Democratic Senate would be able to shut down Trump’s lifetime appointments to courts — including the Supreme Court.

While election day is today, early voting has already seen a record 54 million people cast ballots around the country.

The midterms have seen about US$11 billion spent on advertising, with large chunks coming from individual mega-donors.

Elon Musk has given a staggering nearly half-billion dollars to help get Republicans elected.