What's at stake in the US midterm elections?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2018
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
November's midterm elections in the US are the first chance for voters across the country to pass judgement on President Trump's administration since the 2016 election.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs and a third of the Senate. If the Democrats win control of the House, they would not only be in a position to halt President's Trump's legislative agenda; they would also be able, should they wish, to start impeachment proceedings.
On The Briefing Room this week David Aaronovitch asks what's at stake in these elections and how the outcome will reshape the American political landscape two years before the next Presidential election in 2020.
CONTRIBUTORS
Ken Goldstein, professor of politics at the University of San Francisco
Elena Schneider, campaign reporter for Politico
Elaine Kamarck, senior fellow in the governance studies programme at the Brookings Institution
Jeff Lazarus, associate professor of political science at Georgia State University
Larry Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Aronovich. |
| 0:06.5 | Inside our virtual space, you and I get briefed together on the big questions of the day by people who know what they're talking about. |
| 0:13.7 | If it works for you, if it doesn't, or you know how it could, tell us what you think by writing a review or rating us on iTunes or your podcast provider, |
| 0:22.4 | and my thanks to Laser ASDF, hashtag Alona Examus and 09 AMS 97, who've all reviewed us recently. |
| 0:31.9 | This week, we're talking about US politics. The midterm elections are coming up at the beginning of November, |
| 0:38.8 | the first opportunity since 2016 for the country to pass judgment on the Trump administration. |
| 0:45.2 | There have been further extraordinary revelations from inside the White House this week. |
| 0:49.3 | So just how important are these midterm elections? That's the question in this week's episode of the briefing room. |
| 0:56.7 | And if you enjoy this podcast, you might enjoy other editions of the briefing room. |
| 1:00.3 | There are plenty for you to listen to in our archive, |
| 1:02.4 | and you might, for example, be interested in the piece we made about the Mueller investigation earlier this year. |
| 1:15.1 | Yeah. this year. Your vote in 2018 is every bit as important as your vote in 2016. |
| 1:23.6 | Although I'm not sure I really believe that, but you know. |
| 1:26.9 | But it's still important, remember. |
| 1:29.5 | That's why we will be campaigning for every last vote |
| 1:33.4 | in every part of our great country. |
| 1:37.9 | You know who. |
| 1:39.2 | And when President Trump was elected, |
| 1:41.5 | his stars were in alignment. |
| 1:43.4 | His Republican Party held and holds |
| 1:45.6 | a majority in both houses of Congress. But on November the 6th, US voters go to the polls for |
| 1:51.7 | congressmen and women, senators and state governors in what are called the midterm elections, |
... |
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