Leslie Vinjamuri

President Biden and former President Trump held their first debate in Atlanta on Thursday night with the election on a knife’s edge. Given Biden’s faltering performance, this may also turn out to be the only debate.

Recent polls have the candidates tied 50-50. But 20 per cent of voters were ‘undecided’ and 60 per cent of Americans had planned to watch the debates.

In Europe, where the UK and France hold their own significant elections in July, most slept through this debate. Yet no election matters more for Europe’s security and for international order than the US vote on 5 November.…  Seguir leyendo »

After one of the most important weeks in the US political calendar, there is a little more clarity on what to expect from the United States, but not much. Super Tuesday ushered in Nikki Haley’s departure from the race and confirmed President Biden and former President Donald Trump as the presumptive nominees for their parties.

If things go as is currently expected, one of these men will become a second term president. The polls continue to suggest that this election is likely to be very close and difficult to predict. American voters are divided but some of the most critical blocs of voters are so far not especially enthusiastic about either candidate.…  Seguir leyendo »

Fear struck across Europe, a continent that is home to more than 746 million people, as just over 300,000 voters in a small state in the upper northeast corner of the United States delivered a resounding 11-point victory for former president Donald Trump. With the result in the New Hampshire primary contest, the hope that Nikki Haley could turn the tide and bring a degree of normalcy back to the Republican Party quickly collapsed.

Trump may have been victorious in New Hampshire, but he did not disguise his ire that Nikki Haley had dared to stay in that race after their other rivals withdrew.…  Seguir leyendo »

The second GOP debate, much like the first, took place in the shadow of Donald Trump. Despite the attacks made on the former president at the event, polling tells a clear story: two candidates, Trump and Biden, are lined up to win their respective party nominations.

The two leading candidates ignored the debate and continued to court voters. On Tuesday, President Biden became the first US president to join a picket line with members of the United Auto Workers Union. That both candidates took time to court white working-class voters in Michigan is a reminder that swing states continue to be play a pivotal role in US elections.…  Seguir leyendo »

For a president continually struggling with low approval ratings, the midterms provided a stunning result as the widely anticipated Republican red wave failed to materialize.

Although Democrats look set to lose their majority in the House, it is by a much smaller margin than either history or today’s pollsters anticipated. However, the counting continues and, although the Democrats are now leading in the race to win a majority in the Senate, confirmation of this hinges on the final result in Nevada and could even come down to a 6 December run-off in Georgia.

The midterm elections were not good for the Republican party but were especially bad for Donald Trump who has until now managed to defy expectations and maintain his grip on the party even after his 2020 defeat at the polls.…  Seguir leyendo »