US Elections – Slugger O'Toole

The red wave fails to materialise for Republicans in the US midterm elections…

Brian O'Neill on November 10, 2022, 10:29 am

| Readers 3110

For months pundits have been predicting a surge of support for Republicans in the US Midterm Elections, the so-called ‘red wave’. A combination of high inflation and low approval ratings for Joe Biden made many Republicans more than confident of success, but the reality was very different. NEW: data confirms 18-29-year-olds voted for Democrats more than *any other* age group yesterday. Young people literally prevented a Red Wave & saved Democrats. Full stop. If you know a young voter, please …

Jesus, guns and babies. All the essentials for a US election campaign…

Brian O'Neill on February 19, 2022, 10:05 am

| Readers 2004

guns, america, usa

Kandiss Taylor is running for Governor of Georgia on a platform of Jesus, guns and babies – in that order. “WHO’S THAT COMIN’ DOWN THE TRACK? A BIG MACHINE THATS RED AND BLACK… AINT NOTHIN’ FINER IN THE LAND, THAN A CONSERVATIVE KANDISS TAYLOR FAN!!!!” Let’s do this… Let’s paint Georgia Taylor RED! ❤️💋👠 See you on tour! 🇺🇸🍑*Tour schedule is posted on website!* pic.twitter.com/QsxjNw4qeG — Kandiss Taylor (@KandissTaylor) February 17, 2022 Plain and simple. It’s Jesus, guns, and babies. …

OK Boomer: Trump’s Last Stand and Fantasyland, USA…

Richard Delevan on November 18, 2020, 3:15 pm

| Readers 4815

“History is seasonal, and winter is coming…Some time before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II. The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule.” That grim prophecy wasn’t from the latest Qanon conspiracy drop. It was written in the 1990s, …

President Trump – Welcome to the post-truth world

Samuel Thompson on November 23, 2016, 4:11 pm

| Readers 1111

WARNING: the following article may contain elements of truth. The gongs of Big Ben that welcome 2017 will be greeted not but the clinking of glasses and a chorus of Auld Lang Sang, but rather a huge sigh of relief. 2016, the year from hell will finally be behind us. It brought a cull of beloved musicians and artists, Brexit, and now, the rise to power of the Donald. Yes, it’s true, the unthinkable has happened, a man who is …

Mr Trump: What you are talking about is assault, it is a crime, and it is not okay.

Soapbox on October 9, 2016, 7:36 pm

| Readers 1074

It’s no secret that Trump is fond of using shocking language when talking about women. Between saying about his daughter “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” And bragging – which he is remarkably good at doing – that “All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” I was beginning to think that nothing Trump said could shock me. Last week, however, a recording has emerged that …

US Election Braindump

Gerry Lynch on November 8, 2012, 12:15 am

| Readers 55

I am too tired and too discombobulated from number crunching to post a coherent, concise article, but there is much of interest in yesterday’s American election results. This was a decisive election for the world’s most powerful nation and, ipso facto, for the whole planet. So I’m just going to do a brain dump on lessons from yesterday. This is probably too long, and certainly insufficiently intellectually rigorous, but I would be interested in Sluggerites’ opinions (and we all have …

After #Election2012: Time to strike with a moderately hot iron?

Mick Fealty on November 7, 2012, 9:23 am

| Readers 40

Okay, Ruarai makes some interesting points about the implications of this election for the Republican party, or which some more later. And I hope Gerry Lynch will give us a more granular view of what happened both at the executive level and out in the country at council and Gubernatorial levels (30 out of 50 Governors in the US are now Republican). Kellyanne Dignan who is one of our regular US panelists points out that whilst Mitt Romney is most …

#SluggerUS: Join us tonight from 11pm (or just send us your best election curios)

Mick Fealty on November 6, 2012, 11:25 am

| Readers 40

As many of you will know, I’ve been working with the Hangout facility on Google Plus to bring you a series of panel discussions called #DigitalLunch. The next of those is this lunchtime in fact, but more of that shortly. Tonight we’re going to use it differently, some might say for the very reason it’s called a hangout; that is to provide a place for political anoraks just to hangout, share gossip and some of the thousands of tidbits and …

Know Your Battleground States 9/9: Florida

Gerry Lynch on November 5, 2012, 6:46 pm

| Readers 73

Florida, the United States’ incredibly flat protrusion into the sub-tropics, is an enormous and rapidly changing state, perhaps about to overtake New York as the third most populous state in the Union, and by far the biggest of the battleground states with 29 Electoral Votes in play. Florida entered political legend when the 2000 Presidential contest in the state came down to just a few hundred votes out of more than 5.8 million cast. Weeks of scrutinising disputed ballots and …

US election may be tight but probably not tight enough to change the guard…

Mick Fealty on November 5, 2012, 12:40 pm

| Readers 48

You have to congratulate Mitt Romney for running a more than decent campaign. He took on the run that few others in the GOP fancied has made a good job of it. The most exciting moment was the first debate, when he literally cleaned the floor with a sitting President who’s minders has not remotely prepped him for a proper fight. As noted in Slugger’s US panel on Google Plus, it was probably the only time policy raised its head. …

Know Your Battleground States 8/9: Ohio

Gerry Lynch on November 5, 2012, 2:01 am

| Readers 73

Ohio’s flatland isn’t on many tourist itineraries, but it is unquestionably the heart of industrial America. Cris-crossed by major north-south and east-west freeways and freight railways, and with a major deepwater port at Cleveland, Ohio is within a day’s drive of 50% of North America’s population. Trucks depart from plants for all over the United States and Canada 24/7. Manufacturing still directly provides one Ohio job in eight, with yet more dependent on associated transportation and ancillary services, and along …

Know Your Battleground States 6/9: Colorado

Gerry Lynch on November 3, 2012, 7:37 pm

| Readers 75

Colorado was until very recently a very reliable Republican state in Presidential elections. Even in 1996, the worst Republican Presidential year since Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole won Colorado despite the presence of Ross Perot on the ballot. As with the other western battleground, Nevada, rapid population growth, particularly from Hispanics and West Coasters, has made the state competitive in a very short space of time. In particular, Colorado’s flourishing IT and electronics industies lured many young and well-educated Californians with …

Know Your Battleground States 4/9: Iowa

Gerry Lynch on November 2, 2012, 7:35 pm

| Readers 58

Iowa’s role in the political process is firmly cemented by its first-in-the-nation role in choosing presidential candidates. In past decades, when Iowa was another reliably Republican plains state, that was the end of its serious role in the political process. Some are critical that an unrepresentative state, heavily white, heavily rural, with no major metropolitan areas, should play such a critical role in choosing presidents. Local political science professor Stephen G White says, “There are few minorities, no sizable cities, …

Know Your Battleground States 3/9: North Carolina

Gerry Lynch on October 31, 2012, 10:05 pm

| Readers 77

North Carolina’s most important moment in world history was back in 1903 when the Wright Brothers achieved the first ever controlled, powered, flight by a heavier-than-air vehicle out on the strange barrier reef of islands known as the Outer Banks. The Tarheel State’s fascination with technology and transport continues to this day, in the world class universities of the Research Triangle and the NASCAR race tracks at Charlotte and Rockingham. North Carolina is an incredibly complex state. In the remoter …

Know Your Battleground States 2/9: Nevada

Gerry Lynch on October 31, 2012, 10:21 am

| Readers 70

Some American states are little known and less understood outside the country (think Nebraska). Some are iconic. Nevada is sort of iconic. The state’s reputation is largely driven by that bizarre shrine to gambling, money and decadence in the desert, Las Vegas. So are its elections. Just over two thirds of votes cast in the last presidential election were cast in Clark County, which covers Las Vegas and its satellite towns, such as gritty North Las Vegas, famously if unfairly …

#USElections: Will it all come down to one Romney OpEd back in 2008?

Mick Fealty on October 27, 2012, 1:39 pm

| Readers 5

If you didn’t get to see our US Politics panel that’s been bumping along in the background for six or seven weeks, last night’s is well worth the watch. See also: – Dante Scala on just how knife edge the race is in New Hampshire. – Nick Cull talks about how despite the tightness of the race, the betting money is going Obama’s way… – How the new modeling combining poll ratings with other economic factors has begun to replace …

Know Your Battleground States 1/9: New Hampshire

Gerry Lynch on October 24, 2012, 7:11 pm

| Readers 65

New Hampshire, the smallest of the swing states with only 4 Electoral Votes at stake, is an odd candidate to be a battleground state. New Hampshire is relatively rich, overwhelmingly White and very pretty, with more than its fair share of whitewashed churches, traditional Main Streets and wooded valleys which look resplendent in the fall. Granite Staters are famed for a flinty, Yankee, libertarianism enshrined in the state’s official motto, “Live Free or Die” and the fact that the state …

US Late Night Panel: After the Denver Debate…

Mick Fealty on October 5, 2012, 10:46 pm

| Readers 4

Great panel coming from Mass, New Hampshire, New Jersey and California… Starting about 11pm tonight. Join us on YouTube, or leave your in the comments below… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

The US Presidential Election: For what we are about to receive…

articles on September 1, 2012, 11:08 am

| Readers 47

Reading Glenn Greenwald’s piece in Pete Baker’s previous post will reinforce in the minds of many their negative views of the American political process and the Presidential elections, and that’s even before we start getting personal about US presidents with our own favourite stories about their stupidity and iniquity. This negative coverage will increase exponentially as the election reaches a climax, it always does, and many will sneer and feel superior little realising USA today, UK tomorrow alright at the next …

Late night panel: US Election and what matters on Main Street?

Mick Fealty on August 31, 2012, 9:17 pm

| Readers 48

Gore Vidal once famously noted of American politics, “there is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat.” An exaggeration, of course. But it is not always obvious to those of us who live far beyond the watery borders of the American Republic exactly what ‘animal spirits’ have the capacity to move votes in the world’s most powerful democracy. What we do know is that many of the …