After months of bitter campaigning it's time for the US to vote for their next president. The US gets particularly crazy in the run-up to a presidential election, but it will all be over soon.
It will be a close election this year. Current polls suggest that the candidates are near neck-and-neck in the national polls, but that President Obama has a slight advantage in the key swing stages that are key to winning the electoral college, and with it the presidency.
Recent weeks have seen Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Virginia and New Hampshire swing between a "toss up" and "leaning Obama" on the Huffington Post Electoral Map. North Carolina has swung between "toss-up" and leaning Romney. Florida has been consistently too close to call for weeks, with a slight advantage to the Romney camp (less than 1%) for the most part. The remaining states have remained firmly in the hands of one candidate or the other.
Click for more state-by-state detail
Mitt Romney needs to win the majority of the swing states in order to achieve victory. But in a close election anything can happen (remember Bush vs Gore 2000?). For Pres. Obama's staff, the primary concern at this stage seems to be getting supporters out to vote. Huge queues for early voting in Florida, Ohio and other swing states are causing concern for the Democrats.
It's fair to say that international opinion strongly favours Obama, as it almost always does with the Democratic candidate. While Obama's policies would be considered right-wing in most of Europe, he is positioned as one of the most left-leaning US Presidents of recent times, for example making moves towards universal healthcare ("Obamacare") - something we Europeans take for granted.
As well as the Presidential race, the congressional elections are underway. Here the Republicans seem to be on course to retain their advantage. There are also 33 senate seats up for grabs, and this race is a lot tighter. If the Democrats lose their majority in the senate then it could seriously hamper a second-term Obama presidency.
Either way, barring lawsuits or recounts, it should all be settled tonight. I'll be up late to watch the process in action, and I'll aim to update this post as the winner in the various states is called.
It will be a close election this year. Current polls suggest that the candidates are near neck-and-neck in the national polls, but that President Obama has a slight advantage in the key swing stages that are key to winning the electoral college, and with it the presidency.
Recent weeks have seen Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Virginia and New Hampshire swing between a "toss up" and "leaning Obama" on the Huffington Post Electoral Map. North Carolina has swung between "toss-up" and leaning Romney. Florida has been consistently too close to call for weeks, with a slight advantage to the Romney camp (less than 1%) for the most part. The remaining states have remained firmly in the hands of one candidate or the other.
Click for more state-by-state detail
Mitt Romney needs to win the majority of the swing states in order to achieve victory. But in a close election anything can happen (remember Bush vs Gore 2000?). For Pres. Obama's staff, the primary concern at this stage seems to be getting supporters out to vote. Huge queues for early voting in Florida, Ohio and other swing states are causing concern for the Democrats.
It's fair to say that international opinion strongly favours Obama, as it almost always does with the Democratic candidate. While Obama's policies would be considered right-wing in most of Europe, he is positioned as one of the most left-leaning US Presidents of recent times, for example making moves towards universal healthcare ("Obamacare") - something we Europeans take for granted.
As well as the Presidential race, the congressional elections are underway. Here the Republicans seem to be on course to retain their advantage. There are also 33 senate seats up for grabs, and this race is a lot tighter. If the Democrats lose their majority in the senate then it could seriously hamper a second-term Obama presidency.
Either way, barring lawsuits or recounts, it should all be settled tonight. I'll be up late to watch the process in action, and I'll aim to update this post as the winner in the various states is called.
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