Seems as if voting is the vogue. People in New Caledonia a tiny island which is part of France voted in a referendum for independence from France. They decided not to leave. And later people in the US will be going to go vote in the Midterms. They have been labelled by many as the most important elections of people's lives in the US! The speculation for these midterms have been going on for quite some time now. The midterms have brought out a lot of extremism, old politicians and clearly shown the red and blue divide in the US. A lot of questions would be answered when the Midterms really do end. Is America really as divided as we perceive it to be? Is Donald Trump really popular? Are republican policies effective? Will Oprah run for President? Oops, we already know the answer to that. She won't :(
What are the Midterms?
These are elections in which people vote for public officials ranging from member of the congress and even school board members. They take place in the middle of a President's term, thus the name Midterms. All the seats in the house of representatives are also up for grabs on election day. The midterms usually work as a judgement of a President's performance. Almost as in when students take exams in the "middle" of their school years to judge their own performance. Except if the voters don't like the president's performance then they can vote to shift the power to the other party. However, they don't get to change the President. But, that isn't usually a problem since in order to make laws and changes each party needs a majority (except some people may prefer a little less tweeting). Usually, the midterms don't have a very high turnout since, most people don't bother to show up. However, this time unconventionally a lot of people have shown interest in voting. But, then again the President this time isn't conventional either.
The fire before-
Just as the midterms got closer the news was filled with multiple incidents of violence. Two of them stand out. The first case was of bombs sent through mails to high level politicians and billionaires. Those among the recipients of these packages was former President Obama, the Clintons and even to CNN. Nobody was injured. From the names of the recipients it's not hard to analyse that the sender was a right-wing extremist. Cesar Sayoc, a 56 year old man is the suspect behind these bombings. The second was a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. 11 people died. Robert Bowers, the 46 year old shooter had been known to make anti-Semitic comments online. The first perpetrator was a full on Trump supporter. He lived in his white van which was plastered with pro-Trump stickers all over the back. The second perpetrator didn't think Trump went far enough. He called Trump a globalist not a nationalist and a liar. But, the hate wasn't just coming from the right. A leading republican congressman was shot by and unstable gunman last summer. This made the Democrats "outraged". Not because the shooting happened but, because people claimed it was the Democrats rhetoric that inspired it.
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polarisation
/pəʊlərʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
noun: polarisation
1. division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs.
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The division between two sharply contrasting groups. This is the most accurate term for the American political scene as of now. The divide seems to be so clear. Among Republicans-Democrats, Liberals-Conservatives or Red-Blue. There has been a lot of argument is America really is as divided as it seems. Many argue that America has been this way since it's creations. Having a classic political association is part of the American dream, they say. But, many even argue that while having a political association is not bad every since Trump won, each party is moving farther away from each other taking their supporters with them. This is bad because in order to make decisions both parties need to Compromise - the possibility of which is so far that it's hilarious to even bring it up. The Toxic political scenario right now is what holds back real action, on real issues. Previously when tragedies used to come up people in America used to bond together and mourn together. However, now it just pulls them farther apart. Needless to say America's political scene is angry and filled with hate. Not an ideal before the midterms.
The other countries-
Americans are not the only ones showing strong reaction to these midterms. People and officials from around the world will be having their eyes glued to the screens come November 6th. A lot of countries that may have once hoped for Donald Trump's election are now hoping for a strong Democratic turnout. China is one country that has high hopes. Donald Trump hasn't proved to be as friendly with Xi Jinping as they may have hoped. Donald Trump has started a waging trade war on China and they hope the Democrats might be a bit more lenient. A lot of traditional US allies like the UK, Germany and other European countries aren't really fond of Donald Trump's "America First" policy as you may have guessed. Not all people are vying for democrats though. Many Brexiteers can relate to Donald Trump's policies. Then there are countries like India who aren't really bothering with these elections.
Go Vote-
So, while Donald Trump's name will not be on the ballot voting is important. It could mean a lot for America's political future. Donald Trump has appointed conservative judges like Brett Kavanaugh, made tax cuts and even wound back many environmental protections that are considered "bad for business". If Democrats are able to swing the House of Republicans then it would mean that it would be harder or Donald Trump to continue at his current pace (or even continue at all) with all these changes. But, if not then we can except to see a lot of gloating. Why? Because, many news channels and companies have reported that Democrats have a very high chance of tilting the power. As of now even celebrities have gone out of their way to urge people to vote. In fact so many have done so that Comedy Central made a hilarious spoof about it (you should watch it). All we can do is see people vote and wait for the results.