No images? Click here
27 April 2022
What French election means for midterms
French President Emmanuel Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France’s elections on Sunday, an encouraging sign for President Biden given Macron's low approval ratings.
As a compromise candidate for many, French voters appeared to want to avoid a Trumpian president with France's Greens and Republican parties joining forces to keep Le Pen out of power. But, according to polling, 63 per cent of voters would like him to have a minority government, which will be decided in the upcoming June elections.
Similar to Trump, Le Pen's party is strongly favoured in regional and rural towns and is expected to win a number of seats in the National Assembly. This election cycle mirrors the US midterms. As President Biden is well aware, US presidents typically lose their majority in Congress in their first midterms.
As Republicans come to terms with their identities post-Trump, watch out for the Republican primaries pitting far-right, Trump-backed candidates against moderate-right candidates. This sets the stage for the party's ideological commitments before the November midterms and will impact both voter preference and, critically, voter turnout. Key primaries to watch include: Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Alabama.
NEWS WRAP
Diplomatic storm in the South Pacific
Significant concerns over Solomon Islands deal | The United States said it would “respond accordingly” if the the Solomon Islands allowed China to establish a military base there. The comments followed a visit by a team of top US diplomats, led by Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific. READ MORE HERE
Trump blocks Twitter | After Twitter announced it accepted Elon Musk’s offer to acquire the publicly traded company for US$44 billion, former President Donald Trump told Fox News he will not be returning to Twitter. Even if his account is reinstated by Musk he said he will instead stay on his own “TRUTH Social” platform. READ MORE HERE
US military aid pours into Ukraine | Over the past two weeks, the Biden administration began shipping out US$1.2 billion worth of howitzers, artillery rounds, armoured vehicles, and experimental new armed drones capable of flying into targets. In March, US Congress approved a staggering US$13.6 billion in Ukraine aid, with roughly half the money paying for military support. READ MORE HERE
Texts reveal backroom election scheming | Thousands of text messages of former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reveal how Trump's inner circle worked behind the scenes to try to overturn the 2020 election results. Meadows selectively provided the texts to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. READ MORE HERE
Biden to speak at journalist gala | The White House Correspondents' Dinner returns this weekend, after a two year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic and the sitting president is set to attend for the first time since 2016. President Joe Biden will speak at the century-old press gala after former president Donald Trump famously boycotted the event. READ MORE HERE
We will speak softly and carry a large javelin.
President Biden speaking on sending more military aid to Ukraine | 21 April 2022
ANALYSIS
The politics of Elon Musk
Non Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre
Elon Musk’s rocket is about to dock with Twitter. Musk’s deal to take over Twitter, and take it private, is not only at $US 44 billion the biggest business coup of its type of the century so far, but inevitably, given the nexus of Big Tech with Washington, and the role social media plays in our lives and throughout society, it is a political blockbuster as well.
When Twitter, followed by Facebook (now Meta) banned Donald Trump from the platform in the wake of the insurrection at the Capitol to overturn the 2020 presidential election, that action crystallised years of growing discontent, especially among conservatives, over Big Tech’s “cancel culture” of the right.
US lawmakers expressed their support for legislation to ensure that free speech is protected on social media platforms and demanded that Twitter preserve all documents associated with the Musk deal.
The real message to Twitter’s board: we want Musk to take you over, end your censorship over the platform, and don’t mess with it.
Twitter got the message.
This is an excerpt from an article published by Pearls and Irritations: John Menadue Public Policy Journal
BY THE NUMBERS
Young Americans losing faith in politics
A national poll released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School this week indicates 18-to-29-year-olds are on track to match 2018’s record-breaking youth turnout in a midterm election this November.
Although the majority prefer Democratic control 55 to 34 per cent, there was a sharp increase in youth believing that “political involvement rarely has tangible results” (36 per cent), their vote “doesn’t make a difference” (42 per cent) and agreement that “politics today are no longer able to meet the challenges our country is facing” (56 per cent). This later statistic is a significant rise from 45 per cent in 2018.
VIDEO
Alliance Dinner 2022 | Remarks from Leader of the Opposition The Hon Anthony Albanese
Leader of the federal Opposition Anthony Albanese addressed senior Australian political, business and academic leaders at a special Alliance Dinner event in Canberra to celebrate the 70th anniversary of ANZUS.
The event not only marked the milestone of the formal alliance, but confirmed that the US-Australia alliance was still critical in meeting Australia’s great strategic and security challenges of today and the foreseeable future.
The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, American Australian Association Ltd and Perth USAsia Centre hosted the event, which included speakers, such as Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australian Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos, US Chargé d'Affaires Michael Goldman and former Prime Minister John Howard.
Catch more analysis on the United States on the USSC YouTube channel.
Manage your email preferences | Forward this email to a friend
United States Studies Centre
Institute Building H03
University of Sydney NSW 2006
