All-consuming midterm battles heat up as U.S. campaigns near the end
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s hard to blame America’s body politic — shaken by pipe bombs in the mail, a synagogue shooting and Donald Trump’s unrelenting torrent of angry campaign invective — for feeling trapped in the headlights of Tuesday’s oncoming midterm elections.
On one side of the road to Congress are the Democrats, poised for a breakthrough in the House of Representatives, brandishing promises to defend health coverage for pre-existing conditions from what they predict will be a renewed Republican assault on the Affordable Care Act.
On the other, the Republicans, shielded by a strong U.S. economy and armed with promises of tax relief and a newly installed conservative Supreme Court justice, led by a self-proclaimed nationalist hell-bent on protecting his Senate majority with a call to arms on immigration.
But perhaps most daunting is what lies down the road: a Democrat-led war on Capitol Hill marked by subpoenas, investigations, legislative gridlock and bitter political clashes, culminating in a presidential battle royal that will make 2016 look like a garden party.