Headline Roundup • September 10th, 2022
As Midterms Near, Parties Craft Dueling Narratives For Election Season
2022 Elections,Republican Party,Democratic Party,Abortion,Roe V Wade,Inflation,Economy And Jobs,Elections
Summary from the AllSides News Team
2022 Election Day is growing closer, and what was once expected to be an overwhelming victory for the Republican Party now appears to be a more even matchup. As party leaders continue to push dueling national narratives, media speculators are working hard to determine not only who voters will cast ballots for, but for which issues they will journey to the polls.
The Democratic Party, which media outlets portrayed as dead on arrival in the spring, has found new life and momentum after a turbulent summer marked by the overturning of Roe V. Wade, a revitalized White House, and increasingly fierce rhetoric towards Trump-loyal members of the GOP. Democratic candidates are working to frame November's elections around two key issues – the preservation of democracy and the protection of civil rights, specifically abortion. The Republicans, who have history on their side as the party opposing the White House in the midterm elections, are focusing on another issue that often decides elections – the economy. A taxing summer marked by high gas prices and inflation has given Republicans plenty of ammunition to lambaste majority Democrats.
The issues pressed by each party are evident in the respective media coverage. Breitbart (Right Bias) has a tag on their site homepage titled "Biden Recession." Coverage on the left has focused on the impact women will have in the midterms, with a guest writer for the New York Times Opinion (Left Bias) predicting Democrats could "buck historic trends" this election season thanks to increased women turnout.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Michelle Gustafson/For The Washington Post
Cat Thomas used to call herself politically independent. But she registered as a Democrat the moment she turned 18 this summer, fearful that Republicans in Pennsylvania would ban abortion.
Hope Pierotti, 20, hurried to re-register in her new swing-state home days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, similarly anxious about abortion rights. The procedure is legal in Pennsylvania, but Republicans could pass sweeping restrictions if they win the governor’s race and keep control of the statehouse.
And Britney Preston finally signed up to vote two years after sitting out the...
AP Photo/Andres Kudacki
There are less than two months left before the midterm elections.
Lately, Democrats have become more hopeful and Republicans more nervous as the polling lead the GOP enjoyed earlier in the year has eroded.
The battle for the Senate looks, for now, to be balanced on a knife-edge, even as the GOP remains favored to take over the House.
Candidates and local issues will clearly be vital in many races. But this is a national election too.
Here are the five biggest issues that will determine the outcome.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
The White House has touted an economic recovery in the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections, even as many Americans remain underwater economically.
The White House published a 58-page “economic blueprint” in September touting the fastest job recovery in 40 years, the creation of 3.7 million jobs and the unemployment rate standing at a near-50-year low of 3.7%. The report noted that this recovery has significantly outperformed the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections released shortly after President Joe Biden took office. The CBO estimated in Feb. 2021 that the economy would...
