Biden and Trump have all to play for in US midterm elections

But the results won’t necessarily mean the end of the president nor a revival for the Donald says Sean O’Grady

Former president Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event at Sioux Gateway Airport on Thursday (Getty Images)

The United States midterm elections matter to national politics as well as at state and local level. They are much more than an elaborate opinion poll, and if they help propel Donald Trump back into the White House then Tuesday’s polls might come to be seen as historic.

It is certainly bad news for president Joe Biden if he loses virtually any ground in the Senate races, because he barely controls the upper house.

Midterms come in two flavours. If they fall two years from the end of a president’s second consecutive term in office, and he loses control of Congress, it deadlocks the domestic agenda. That usually means the incumbent must concentrate on foreign affairs, which often means some attempt to secure peace in the Middle East.