Checks and Balance from The Economist

A covid-19 outbreak in the White House threatens President Trump’s chances of reelection. Behind in national polls, his path to victory once again goes through the Electoral College. He must win Florida, his adopted home state and the biggest battleground of all. Which way will the sunshine state flip this time?

We speak to Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson and look at Florida’s two key demographics: senior citizens and Hispanics. 

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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The president’s tweet announcing his positive coronavirus test was his most shared ever - a shocking fact amid a mire of misinformation. This week’s angry TV debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden highlighted how even the truth has become a partisan issue. Can reality be reclaimed?

We speak to MIT’s Sinan Aral, author of The Hype Machine, and Adam Roberts, The Economist’s Midwest correspondent reports from Iowa.

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod 

The Economist is seeking applicants for two paid fellowships in America.

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Economist modelling suggests November's election may end Republican control of the Senate. The Republican leadership plans to push through the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg before then. Democrats are threatening to retaliate by reforming anti-majoritarian Senate rules if they win back control. Should the Senate change?

James Astill, The Economist’s Washington bureau chief and data journalist Elliott Morris contribute.

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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Donald Trump hopes fear of unrest and rising crime will appeal to the “suburban housewives” he tweets about. It’s a strategy borrowed from Richard Nixon, who first harnessed the political power of suburban voters to win the White House. But two years ago the Democrats took control of Congress by winning suburbia. Who will win the suburban vote this time?

We speak to election forecaster Rachel Bitecofer, Candace Valenzuela, who is running for Congress in the Texas suburbs, and look back to the battles over segregation that shaped the politics of suburbia.

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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Baby-boomers have dominated American politics since the 1990s, but this election may be their last stand. Shifting demographics do not favour Donald Trump, the boomer-in-chief. Younger Americans are more diverse, more educated, more likely to vote Democrat. Is the boomer era over?

We speak to William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, look back to what Barack Obama called the “psychodrama” of boomer politics, and ahead to what might replace it.

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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November’s election threatens to be ugly. President Trump’s supporters are clashing with Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland. Covid-19 complicates voting. The result may not be clear on election night. Many Americans worry the election could herald violent discord and a constitutional crisis rather than a smooth exercise of democracy. Should they be concerned?

We speak to Myrna Perez of the Brennan Center for Justice and Professor Kathleen Hale, who runs the graduate programme in election administration at Auburn University. 

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent, and Idrees Kahloon, US policy correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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Grandees were gone from this week’s Republican convention, replaced by Trump family members and ordinary folk caught in the culture wars. The president has also kicked aside the three pillars that propped up Ronald Reagan’s Republicans: moral and global leadership plus sound finances. What do Republicans stand for now?

We speak to Hogan Gidley from the Trump campaign and Elliott Morris, data journalist for The Economist.

John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief, and Idrees Kahloon, US policy correspondent.

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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The Democrats used their convention this week to showcase the breadth of the coalition built to oust President Trump. Republican defectors shared a platform with leftists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But climate, minority rights, even capitalism, are all areas of disagreement. Can Joe Biden unite the party?

Host John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, with Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent, and Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief. 

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod 

The Economist is seeking applicants for two paid fellowships in America.

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After a deliberately quiet few months, Presidential frontrunner Joe Biden seized the news cycle this week by announcing Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. We hear about what she really stands for. And we ask what her time as California’s Attorney General tells us about how she would wield power in practice.

John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, hosts with Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief, and Washington correspondent Jon Fasman. 

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod

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The Economist's election forecast shows Joe Biden heading for a landslide victory. But August is not November. President Trump has recently shifted focus back to the coronavirus in an attempt to rescue his reelection bid and Republicans have outpaced Democrats in swing-state voter registration. How can fortunes change during a campaign? We ask Stuart Stevens, chief strategist of several Republican campaigns, author and political consultant, and Matt Bennett, Democratic presidential adviser and executive vice-president at Third Way a centrist think-tank.

Host John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, with Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent, and Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief. 

For access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/2020electionpod 

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