Photo: Brendan Smialowski and Kent Nishimura Agence France-Presse Thursday evening, Donald Trump accepted the candidacy that the Republican delegates offered him in Milwaukee. The same evening, Joe Biden was confined to his summer home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Fabien Deglise in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Published yesterday at 1:12 p.m. Updated yesterday at 5:40 p.m. Analysis
- United States
This week, the contrast could not be more glaring between the two political camps facing each other in the United States ahead of next November's presidential election.
Thursday evening, Donald Trump accepted “with faith and devotion” the candidacy that the Republican delegates offered him in Milwaukee during the party's national convention, and this, in pomp and the cult of his personality. That same evening, Joe Biden was isolating at his summer home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after a positive COVID-19 test earlier this week forced him to cancel a political rally in Nevada.
While one reinvigorated his electoral campaign — and strengthened his heroic halo and image as a fighter following an assassination attempt last weekend — the other continued to show signs of weakness clearly revealed during the televised debate on June 27 and which, since then, have revealed signs of fracture within his party. Two worlds at odds placed at the heart of an America preparing to go to the polls, in an election year that will determine the future of the country.
“It must be difficult to watch for the Democrats,” admitted with compassion Shirlene Ostrov, former president of the Republican Party of Hawaii and delegate from this Pacific state, who came to Wisconsin to crown the populist. “The difference between the two candidates is dramatic. We see it, and they must see it too. »
All week, activists and Republican delegates were reminded of the divide by the numerous stars, loyalists of the ex-president and personalities of the movement Make America Great Again (MAGA), who came to address them at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
“America cannot afford four more years of presidency that resembles the film Weekend at Bernie's“, launched Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday evening, delivering a nested reference to this 1989 black comedy in which two young employees of an insurance company cover up the death of their boss to take advantage of his summer villa in the Hamptons.
Every evening, the television screens surrounding the scene showed painful images of Joe Biden stumbling up the stairs to board a plane or struggling to put on his jacket when exiting a helicopter. His face of confusion supported the many statements that a “weak leader” is weakening the country and increasing threats to it — immigration, China, Russia, according to Republicans.
“Joe Biden cannot receive phone calls at 3 a.m.” to confront an international crisis, said Mike Pompeo, former head of American diplomacy under Donald Trump . “Actually, he doesn't take calls after 4 p.m.,” he claimed.
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“It’s an unprecedented electoral campaign, with a totally unusual configuration of strengths and weaknesses,” summarizes Brandon Lenoir, professor of strategic communications at High Point University, in an interview from the front of the Fiserv Forum. North Carolina, who came to accompany journalism students to this convention. “On one side we have a candidate who survived an assassination attempt and is taking political advantage by showcasing his strength, courage and endurance. On the other hand, we have a candidate who must suspend his campaign activities due to illness. Since the debate, problems have followed one another for Joe Biden, with strong images increasing the pressure on him to leave the race. »
Thursday, while Donald Trump was preparing for his coronation, in the unity and ecstasy of a party that he put under his thumb and service of its « alternative realities”, divisions were expressed even more forcefully in the Democratic camp with new calls for the president to pass the baton.
According to the < i>Washington Post, former President Barack Obama is said to have expressed to close friends in the last days his doubts about the “viability” of his ex-vice-president’s candidacy for the November election. Fears raised by several other senior members of the party, such as Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, or the Democratic leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, who met Joe Biden last week in Delaware. According to sources cited by the Associated Press, Mr. Schumer expressed to Mr. Biden the concerns of several senators and representatives campaigning in fragile constituencies and who believe that the weakness of the Democratic candidate could cost them their seats in November by granting a threatening majority to Republicans in Congress.
“It is not yet clear whether the attempted assassination of one and the COVID diagnosis of “other are going to have a lasting significance on voting intentions,” admits political scientist Grant Reeher of Syracuse University in New York state in an interview. “But where it might help Republicans and hurt Democrats the most is in voter turnout. This participation relies on enthusiastic volunteers. If Joe Biden does not generate enthusiasm against more confident Republicans with their reinvigorated candidate, the party could then be in big trouble. »
Towards an open Democratic convention ?
On Friday, Joe Biden's campaign team, once again placed in a zone of turbulence, held a meeting of all his members. Earlier in the day, the Democrat's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, admitted to a “decline” in support for the president, but insisted he “absolutely” remained in the race and that his team saw “multiple paths” to defeating Donald Trump. “We have a lot of work to do to reassure the American people that yes, [Joe Biden] is old, but he can win,” she said on MSNBC morning airwaves.< /p>
Some 70% of Americans, including 65% of Democrats, believe Joe Biden should leave the race and kick off an open Democratic convention next August in Chicago to allow activists to choose a new candidate , indicates an opinion survey conducted by the University of Chicago released this week.
For Democrats, the outlook remains bleak unless they make a radical change. A poll conducted by Emerson College on July 15-16 confirmed that Donald Trump has a six-point lead over Joe Biden in national voting intentions. But a “young Democrat qualified for the job” could change the situation by increasing their chances of victory in the seven key states where voters will ultimately decide the fate of the two candidates. Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia are among them. In these mood-shifting states, 51 to 55% of voters say they are more likely to vote for this “young man” than for Donald Trump, who would only garner between 45 and 49% of the vote, the poll indicates.
This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund- Le Devoir .