US News & World Report (November 4)
“Joe Biden has broken former President Barack Obama’s record for total votes set in the historic 2008 election.” The 70 million votes Biden has already racked already exceed “Obama’s record of more than 69 million votes, with millions of ballots still being counted in several battleground states….” The former Vice President’s “record-breaking performance is shocking considering the voter enthusiasm – especially among young people – his former boss had in 2008.”
Tags: Ballots, Battleground states, Biden, Election, Historic, Obama, Record, Shocking, Voter enthusiasm, Votes
Los Angeles Times (November 3)
“No matter what happens next, this is not normal. Every presidential election crackles with tension, or it should…. and every four years election day is a time of fear and hope, anxiety and elation… And that’s completely normal. But let’s not pretend that cities boarding themselves up in fear of election day violence is normal…. Because a country in which this election is “normal” is a country no longer our own.”
The Economist (October 17)
“The prime minister’s election victory in December ought to have banished the memory of Theresa May’s hobbled premiership and rendered him dominant,” but he now bears “than a passing resemblance to his predecessor.” The first COVID-19 “wave cost Mr Johnson a great deal of his political capital. If the government’s record does not improve, the second could exhaust it.”
Tags: COVID-19, Election, Exhaust, Hobbled, Johnson, May, Political capital, Predecessor, Premiership, Prime minister, Resemblance
Washington Post (September 15)
President Trump claims “America’s cities are in flames” and a Biden election would leave the suburbs engulfed in flames. Meanwhile, wildfires have refocused attention on the issue of climate change. Speaking to the real “fires of the present and future” which are “raging across much of the Western states, devouring towns and turning the sky red,” Joe Biden is now “going further than any party nominee has before and talking like someone with a genuine commitment to strong action on climate.”
Tags: Biden, Climate change, Commitment, Election, Flames, Genuine, Strong action, Suburbs, Trump, U.S., Wildfires
Washington Post (August 11)
“If the economy is in a rut, the party in power usually tries to maximize the power of incumbency to improve conditions before an election,” but these are strange times. “This White House and the current Senate Republican majority… are doing everything in their power to minimize or even prevent a stimulus deal.” Perhaps “Trump still does not understand he has wrecked the economy.” Come November, it looks like “he and a whole lot of Republicans are going to join the list of the unemployed.”
Tags: Economy, Election, Incumbency, Majority, Power, Prevent, Republican, Rut, Senate, Stimulus deal, White House, Wrecked
The Economist (February 15)
“Scottish independence has grabbed headlines since Brexit, but it is time to recognise the chances of a different secession from the United Kingdom. Sinn Fein’s success at the election is just the latest reason to think that a united Ireland within a decade or so is a real—and growing—possibility.”
Wall Street Journal (February 2)
“Investors are betting the volatility that has rattled markets over the past two weeks is here to stay. Many are bracing for dramatic swings in stocks as the U.S. presidential election season ramps up and investors assess the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global economic activity.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Election, Impact, Investors, Markets, Outbreak, Rattled, Stocks, U.S., Volatility
Bloomberg (January 2)
“Geopolitics presents a mixed picture heading into any new decade. But given all the transnational trends I’ve listed, along with the wildcard of the Trump administration — in an election year and facing an impeachment trial, no less — the first year of the 2020s will likely have oversized impact on the nine that follow it.”
Tags: 2020s, Election, Geopolitics, Impeachment, Transnational, Trends, Trump, Wildcard
Newsweek (December 13)
In calling an election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson “hit the jackpot. The Conservative government, which promised to ‘get Brexit done’ and lavish cash on public services, was returned triumphantly with 365 seats, its largest Westminster majority since 1987.” The result “bears many of the signs of a once-in-a-lifetime phenomena—a critical realignment redefining the basis of British politics.”
Tags: Brexit, Conservative, Election, Jackpot, Johnson, Majority, Once-in-a-lifetime, Public services, Realignment, Westminster
New York Times (November 26)
“Citizens voted overwhelmingly for pro-democracy candidates” in Hong Kong’s local election this Sunday. “If the Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping had thought that there was a silent majority opposed to the disruptive protests, the turnout and result made clear that a vast majority of Hong Kongers treasure their relative freedoms and have no intention of letting Beijing whittle them away.”
Tags: Candidates, China, Citizens, Election, Hong Kong, Leadership, Overwhelmingly, Pro-democracy, Protests, Turnout, Vote, Xi
