US Presidential Election 2016 Megathread
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian
Polls have opened to American voters after a star-studded climax to a campaign that could elect either the first female president of the United States or a celebrity billionaire who threatens to rewrite the rules of politics forever.
Minutes after midnight the traditional first election day ballot was cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, as Lady Gaga in North Carolina and Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence in Michigan introduced competing last-ditch rallies.
With a fumbled start that many will hope does not herald more serious voting irregularities to come, residents of Dixville delivered four votes for Hillary Clinton, two for Trump, one for libertarian Gary Johnson and a quirky write-in for the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Democrats were cautiously optimistic of national victory after Trump’s promise to build a wall against immigrants appeared instead to be bolstering Clinton’s electoral firewall.
Analysis of early voting behaviour suggested the Republican candidate may have stirred a demographic giant by encouraging up to 87% more Hispanic voters than usual in states such as Florida.
Democrats began election day with an average lead in national opinion polling of around three points, though state-level polling suggested several possible paths to victory also remained for Trump among white working-class voters.
Leaving nothing to chance, Clinton and President Barack Obama held afternoon rallies in Michigan on Monday and appeared on stage together in Philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen, a one-man songbook for America’s blue-collar angst.
But Trump was voicing equal confidence he could pull off a surprise victory that would send shockwaves around the world, hoping to channel anger over jobs and trade into an election day upset without parallel.
“Today is our independence day,” he told the audience in Grand Rapids. “Today the American working class is going to strike back, finally.”
“We have one flawed candidate left to beat,” added Trump, reeling off his list of equally unexpected wins in the Republican primary. “It’s going to be the beginning of a new adventure.”
The Trump camp went into the final day of the campaign needing an almost clean sweep of battleground states such as Florida and North Carolina to win outright, plus a series of shock wins in the rustbelt that looked less and less likely.
But sensing possible danger, the Clinton campaign poured last-minute resources into the industrial midwest, a region where she struggled against a similar antiestablishment surge for Bernie Sanders during the primary election season.
Also up for election are some high profile politicians of the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
Electorally Trump needs to win a bigger victory than Clinton in number of states won to win the Presidency. The magic number of electoral college votes required is the 270 mark with states such as Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan and Virginia being key swing states. Especially Florida which is pretty much decisive and certainly was in 2000.
In terms of the Senate and the House of Representatives both are currently controlled by the Republican Party so the Democrats (if they win the Presidency) will be desperate to win the Congress otherwise passing legislation will be very hard and a President Clinton may end up very much as a 'lame duck' as they say in the states.
Anyway vote in the poll. I have included the four main candidates with ballot access on a national scale.