US election

US election night: As it happened (7-8pm)

November 7, 2012 12:00 am by Financial Times

Welcome back to the FT’s live coverage of the US Election 2012 in which US voters will choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. As millions of Americans continue to head to polling sites around the country, some results will begin to trickle in shortly. By Arash Massoudi and Anjli Raval in New York (All times EST)

19.58: Continue to follow our election live blog here.

19.55: Early signs from exit polls taken in battleground states do not bode well for Mr Romney, says Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker.

@RyanLizza: “Lots of reasons not to trust the exits, but so far they show good news for Obama and bad news for Romney.”

Posted in US election, US politics | Permalink

US election night: As it happened (5-7pm)

November 6, 2012 10:28 pm by Arash Massoudi

Getty

Welcome back to the FT’s live coverage of the US Election 2012 in which US voters will choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. As millions of Americans continue to head to polling sites around the country, some results will begin to trickle in shortly.

By Arash Massoudi and Anjli Raval in New York (All times EST)

19.00: Continue to follow our election live blog here.

18.55: How will markets react tomorrow? Michael Mackenzie, FT’s US markets editor, says bond traders believe Treasury yields are likely to fall if President Obama is re-elected as attention will focus on gridlock and the “fiscal cliff”.

“Traders think a Romney win would push the benchmark yield higher as the risk of a fiscal accident is reduced. For equities, the consensus view is that a relief rally beckons once the election result is finalised, with a Romney win pushing stocks even higher.”

Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, election day, Florida, Iowa, Mitt Romney, Nevada, new hampshire, November 6, Ohio, polls, Republicans, US, US election, US politics, Virginia, White House
Posted in Foreign affairs, US election, US politics | Permalink

US Election Round Up Tuesday November 6

November 6, 2012 9:51 am by Ben Fenton

Welcome to the final round up of media coverage of the US presidential election campaign, as Americans go to the polls. You can see a live blog of the unfolding events elsewhere on FT.com, but here we review the last moments of seemingly endless months of punditry and prognostication about what might happen today. Tomorrow, it is to be hoped, the headlines will be about what actually has happened.

We start with a look at how the media have covered the crazed deadline hours of campaigning, as the candidates hurtle around swing states trying to energise voters to support them. Read more

Posted in Foreign affairs, US election | Permalink

From FT.com November 5, 2012

FT column: A Romney presidency would be just fine

By Gideon Rachman

Over the past few weeks, I have amused myself by betting friends that Mitt Romney will be elected president. The fun is in the shocked reaction from American liberals – and virtually all Europeans – who find the very thought of a Republican victory utterly horrifying. Even suggesting that a Romney presidency might be tolerable feels like telling Roman citizens that Alaric the Visigoth has been unfairly traduced Read more

Tags: Mitt Romney
Posted in US election, US politics | Permalink

US Election round-up, Monday November 5

November 5, 2012 9:09 am by Ben Fenton

The final stretch: Barack Obama presses the flesh at a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday (AP)

Welcome to the penultimate summary of media coverage of the 2012 US election campaign on a day when geography means nothing and psephology everything as the candidates make their final push for the few, surely very few, remaining undecided voters.

The polls on this last day of campaigning suggest President Barack Obama has a slight edge in the states he needs to hold – Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada – to keep the White House, but his opponent Mitt Romney is easily close enough for polls to be wrong and an upset to be possible.

RealClearPolitics.com shows “Obama (D)” ahead of “Romney (R)” by a sliver – half of a percentage point. Five national polls on Sunday gave the following margins: Obama +3; Obama +1; Obama +1; Tie; Tie. The possibility, last seen in 2000, of the victor losing the popular vote but winning in the electoral college, remains open. Read more

Tags: Barack Obama, bradley effect, Democrats, election 2012, Florida, Iowa, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, Ohio, Paul Ryan, polls, presidential election, Republicans, White House, wisconsin
Posted in US election | Permalink

US election round-up, Thursday November 1

November 1, 2012 8:11 am by Ben Fenton

Welcome to a summary of US election coverage of a day when President Barack Obama had the luxury of dominating television screens without having to pay an extra cent in advertising, while his opponent Mitt Romney was forced into an uncomfortable position in the wings of a great drama.

In the Financial Times, Alan Rappeport reports from Atlantic City that Mr Obama’s position as incumbent gave him the opportunity not only to be pictured coming to the aid of a storm-battered New Jersey, but also inspecting damage alongside the state’s governor, Chris Christie, who has been one of Mr Romney’s main surrogates in attacking the president. Read more

Tags: Barack Obama, chris christie, Democrats, Florida, Gallup, Iowa, Joe Klein, Mitt Romney, new jersey, Ohio, polls, Republicans, Sandy, storm, US election, US politics, Virginia
Posted in Foreign affairs, Obama, Romney, US election, US politics | Permalink

US election round-up, Wednesday October 31

October 31, 2012 8:00 am by Ben Fenton

Welcome to a summary of US election coverage on a day when the advantages of incumbency will surely continue to work on behalf of President Barack Obama.

His role in supervising the clear-up of damage caused by the biggest storm to hit the eastern US in 75 years puts the president in centre shot of news footage that for at least the next 24 hours will be broadcast into every home of the US, airtime that could not be bought.

Latest polls show the presidential race is still being fought on the thinnest margins in states that have either been dealt glancing blows by Sandy – Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, – or know only too well what it is like to be mangled by the forces of nature – hurricanes in Florida, tornadoes in Iowa. Read more

Tags: Barack Obama, chris christie, Democrats, disaster relief, FEMA, hurricane sandy, Mitt Romney, new jersey, Republicans, Sandy, US election, US politics
Posted in Obama, Romney, US election, US politics | Permalink

Offshoring: talk is Jeep

October 29, 2012 8:07 pm by Alan Beattie

Just a week till presidential election day, but still time for more dialogue of the deaf about offshoring. The latest iteration was kicked off by a Romney comment (and slightly less misleading ad) wrongly suggesting that Jeep, owned by Chrysler, was moving production to China. (In fact Chrysler is restoring capacity there to service the Chinese market.) The Obama campaign has just released its response, and so another bout of breast-beating economic nationalism gets under way.

More sympathy might be due to the Obama campaign if it didn’t itself routinely equate foreign investment with sending jobs overseas, particularly its ill-advised attacks on the idea that a territorial corporation tax system would reward US companies for offshoring employment. As informed opinion on the subject routinely points out, the overall evidence is that foreign investment is a complement rather than a substitute to domestic expansion. If you want the specifics, read this. Read more

Tags: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, outsourcing
Posted in China, Foreign affairs, US election, US politics | Permalink

US election round-up Monday October 29

October 29, 2012 8:57 am by Ben Fenton

It may be a contest to become the most powerful human on the planet, but even the US presidential race has to bow to the might of nature sometimes. As Hurricane Sandy summoned up her powers to hammer the east coast of the US, organisers of the two campaigns hurriedly changed their plans and moved inland.

The weather is likely to have two effects, according to the US press, with practical concerns about travel and safety affecting both. But the campaign of President Barack Obama will be worse hit by a second factor, as the Wall Street Journal explains:

Today is the last day for in-person and mail-in voter registration in deadlocked New Hampshire, where the weather threatens to scuttle campaign stops planned by both camps next week. First lady Michelle Obama has canceled a Tuesday trip to the University of New Hampshire campus, which will be closed Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Sandy.

Mr. Obama’s campaign team is relying on banking votes during the early voting period in many states. Campaign aides are privately nervous about a potential disruption in early voting in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.

Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Mitt Romney, Republicans, US, US election, US politics
Posted in Foreign affairs, Obama, US election, US politics, World affairs | Permalink

US Election round-up Friday October 26

October 26, 2012 9:17 am by Ben Fenton

Welcome to a round-up of presidential election news and the quadrennial process of the “last dash for votes” stories has begun early this time around. Concepts like “momentum”, “campaign groundwork” and “heavyweight endorsements” are here to stay for the next 10 turbulent days.

Having voted in his home state of Illinois, President Barack Obama’s idea of momentum appears to consist of sitting in the Oval Office recording media interviews, while his challenger Mitt Romney has a slightly less hectic schedule than in the immediate post-debate days, with only two states, Iowa and Ohio, on his agenda on Friday. Read more