In a contest that President Joe Biden called a "defining" moment for American democracy, Democratic Superstar Barack Obama, Republican Firebrand Donald Trump, and others gathered in Pennsylvania on Saturday to lead their respective parties to victory.
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Before Tuesday, when voters will determine who will control Congress for the last two years of Biden's first term, the contest between the two former presidents reached its climax.
Polls suggest that Republicans are well ahead in the contest for the House and are also making ground in the race for the Senate as Americans, enraged by the cultural wars over gay rights and abortion, try to express their resentment over four decades of high inflation and increased illegal immigration.
Both parties hauled out their heaviest weaponry, and the differences were striking since Pennsylvania was one of the few swing states that would determine the overall balance of power.
Along with Senate candidate John Fetterman and Governor candidate Josh Shapiro, Biden and Obama held a rally in Philadelphia.
Trump, who was beaten by Biden in 2020 but spent the time since spreading conspiracies and planning a potential run for the White House, travelled to Latrobe to support Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz, two candidates on the extreme right of Shapiro's political spectrum.
Speaking in front of a large crowd at a stadium in Philadelphia, Biden and the Democratic candidates referred to Republicans as the party of the wealthy and underlined their support for social security, abortion rights, and unions.
According to Biden, voters must "make a decision between two very different visions of America."
But Biden said that a much more important goal is at risk, given the rising acceptance for conspiracy theories among Trump Republicans.
"Democracy is really a candidate for office. We must all speak with a single voice at this pivotal time for the country, Biden added.
In a meandering address, Trump repeatedly asserted that his efforts to invalidate the 2020 election were justifiable before pleading with Republicans to issue "a humiliating rebuke."
This Tuesday, you must vote Republican in a massive red wave, he added, "if you want to halt the ruin of our nation and rescue the 'American dream'."
Obama, a prominent democrat who had also spoken at a rally earlier in Pittsburgh, garnered the biggest applause of the evening in Philadelphia as he repeatedly urged people to vote.
"Many people don't follow politics as closely as they do in a presidential year. Perhaps they don't believe Congress is all that important. They could believe that their vote won't count," he added.
However, he said that "basic rights... reason and decency are on the ballot," criticising Republicans for becoming more and more opposed to things like science and following the law.
Democracy itself is up for election. Obama's voice was raspy as he repeated Biden's caution: "The stakes are great.
Obama expects that his support will give Fetterman a critical additional boost since he is still the party's most bankable star six years after leaving the White House.
Despite the additional difficulty of overcoming a major stroke, Fetterman and Oz are tied.
Trump's rebuttal proposal
Trump was drawing on the backing of a working-class area in Latrobe, which delivered him significant victories in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
Despite facing major legal threats related to efforts to reverse his 2020 defeat and the storage of top-secret White House papers in his field of florida golf, the victory of the politicians he favours on Tuesday might aid Trump in starting his own comeback campaign.
In addition to making outrageous assertions that he and his followers are the victims of a "police state" and harassing immigrants, Trump also kept hinting that he will soon announce a second run for the presidency.
His admirers would be "extremely delighted" in a "very, very, very short time," he said.
Shawn Ecker, a 44-year-old supporter from Latrobe, voiced anticipation for a potential Trump run in 2024, saying, "We need to take our nation back. Really, we need it. And if someone doesn't stand up like him, it won't happen.