America Goes to Poll in Midterm Elections

After months of frenetic campaigns that saw unprecedented negative ads in American politics, the citizens will this Tuesday decide who controls the US Senate between the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

The Democrats have held the majority of the seats in the Senate since the 2006 election when it made numerous gains, with six Republican incumbents defeated.

However, Democrats' path to holding their Senate majority has narrowed, with Republicans pulling ahead in critical states and on the tips of upsets in some others, according to several polls.

In an interview with Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, the Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Guy Cecil, sounded realistic about the challenges Democrats face, seeming to suggest at one point that keeping the majority might not be the most likely outcome. However, he continued to project confidence, insisting that internal polling had enough races within the margin of error to position Democrats to hold the majority if things go right.

“Clearly when you have as many races as we do that are within the margin of error you’re not going to win every race. But our approach has been to keep as many states competitive as possible, and keep it that way until the very end, in the hopes that the right combination of states actually leads to a majority. But no, I’m not predicting wins in every single targeted state. But there’s a path to victory,” he said.

Allen West, a Republican strategist and former congressman told THISDAY that, “We are ready for this election. President Obama and his friends and followers are trying to turn America into the nanny state, their socialist welfare paradise. We will not allow that to happen! President Obama did nothing to protect America from our foreign enemies.”

According to the Society for Responsive Politics, more money were spent on ads by political parties and their candidates during the last days of the campaign than shot up the money spent in this election to about $4 Billion, making it the most expensive election in America history.

The non-partisan group has equally said the outcome of today’s election would depend on voters’ turnout.
“These last days of the campaign are when person-to-person contact with voters — the famous “ground game” — is meant to help push candidates over the top. The ground game is the last refuge of every campaign trailing in the polls, since a stellar get-out-the-vote operation can close a deficit in a hurry. This cycle, Democrats, in particular, are desperately hoping that their advantages in voter contact expertise and technology will save their Senate majority,” it said.

The Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, Dubose Porter told THISDAY that “we are not going into this election for a run-off.”

“We reflect what Georgia really looked like. The diversity is our strength as shown in the candidates we are presenting for this election. We are working hard to avoid a run-off. We have sufficiently mobilised voters through phone banking. What matters is not how much money is raised by a candidate, but how a candidate is using the money,” Dubose added.

There are 36 states with gubernatorial races this year, in which nine have close races. The senate races to watch on election night will include, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, New Hampshire,  Alaska, Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina.

The Republican will need to win six more seats to control the Senate. Interestingly, the state's Senate race has stayed relentlessly close.