US midterms: Trump has had a reverse Midas touch while Biden defied political gravity
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This may well be the beginning of the end of Donald Trump.
The story of the night is his reverse Midas touch. Nearly every candidate he touched seems to have done worse than those he did not pick.
The man who lost the last election and the popular vote in both the last two elections appears to have been electoral kryptonite for the Republicans in these midterms.
Trump ‘livid’ and angry with Melania – US midterms latest
They may now need to find a way to exorcise his spirit from the party. That may not be easy.
The opposite is true of his Republican nemesis.
Ron DeSantis had a storming night, crushing his Democrat rival Charlie Crist even in parts Republicans have failed to reach in the past.
The Florida governor, who the bookies say is favourite to take on Mr Trump for the party’s nomination, is in a very good place ahead of 2024 should he choose to run.
It was also a very good night for Joe Biden.
A president doing as badly in the approval ratings as he is, somewhere in the low 40s, should have lost the House to a Republican majority of at least 40 if you look at historical precedent.
The Democrats may still lose the House but it will be only by a small margin.
They may hang on to the Senate, after picking up the key swing state of Pennsylvania, in a victory against a Trump-endorsed candidate, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz.
Read more:
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Who’s ahead and who’s behind?
Red wall fails to materialise
Celebrations descend into disappointment at Republican Party
Mr Biden has defied political gravity.
Many doubted his strategy of focusing on the threat to US democracy posed by hundreds of Trump-backed election liars running in these elections.
And it seems Democrat strategy to make the most of voters’ concerns about abortion paid off too.
Young voters and women turned out in big numbers and exit polls suggest the issue was motivating many of them more than others like crime and immigration.
