Politics Across the Pond.

In today's episode of the Randal Report, we’re going to talk about US politics and how it looks from across the great pond! With the midterm elections more or less concluded, I noted that more than 16.7 billion dollars was spent in the pursuit of the result! In England there are limits on campaign expenditure, each candidate has a limit of around £8,700, that they can spend, which means that we’re talking a total of less than £5,550,00. So, seeing the sums of money spent in the US, it would seem an appalling waste, which could be put to better use.

Should there even be midterm elections, as surely it is not sufficient time to have elapsed from the previous election, for the policies of a new administration to take effect? Mel, help me make sense of this! There are often cries of foul in US elections, most notable, was of course

Donald Trump and the incursion on Capitol Hill in January 2021, lets just throw a few stats in here: US contested elections, 1800, 1824, 1860, 1876, 1912, 1948, 2000 (which of course was George W. Bush versus Al Gore) What does this say about American politics? Is it something about the American Psyche, a society built on the concept of winners and losers? Let's talk Donald Trump: With the majority of results now in, there was no Republican ‘Red Wave’ as many Republicans had forecast and seemingly, a lot of the Trump endorsed candidates failed to win the day. Of course, the latest being Kari Lake, in the race for Governor of Arizona. Now, Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for the 2024 elections,Trumpism isn’t yet dead but should have been drowned at birth in the first place? What were the reasons for what would seem like a poor showing, considering Biden has the lowest approval rating of any sitting President in history? Should the Republican party even countenance the idea of having Trump as their candidate, it would not seem sagacious on their part? Should there be an age limit on candidates for the Presidency? (After all, it is reckoned that Ronald Reagan was already suffering symptoms of dementia whilst in office).