Tag: US elections 2012

With stratospheric popularity levels in Europe, Barack Obama - who won a second term last night - is expected to make a renewed commitment to energising the world economy by re-launching transatlantic trade relations, US analysts say. EurActiv reports from Washington.

To listen to some political pundits, the outcome of the US election will not diminish the EU’s importance to Washington because “Europe matters”. But more conservative analysts think otherwise.

With President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney continuing to run neck-and-neck in the US presidential race, analysts in Washington are seriously considering whether a recount on 7 November will be necessary. The consequence could be far-reaching for Europe, which is waiting until the US vote to take a decision on debt-laden Greece.

Hurricane Sandy blew the US presidential race off course over the weekend even before it came ashore, forcing Republican Mitt Romney to shift his campaign inland and fuelling fears that the massive storm bearing down on the East Coast could disrupt early voting.

An aggressive Mitt Romney took the fight to President Barack Obama yesterday (3 October) and the Republican candidate appeared to breathe new life into his struggling campaign with a solid performance at their first debate.

An EU-IMF report into whether Greece's debt is manageable looks set to be delayed until after 6 November because policymakers want to avoid any shock to the global economy before the US election, EU officials and diplomats say.

2012 is a year of elections in France, the United States and Russia, but energy and elections are "not a good couple", because energy policies are "quite complicated" for an electoral debate, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger told a Brussels audience today (6 March). 

As Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in a ceremony watched by billions worldwide yesterday (20 January), two conflicts came to an end, sending a message to the new leader of the world's only remaining superpower.

US President-elect Barack Obama should speed up key appointments to his future administration, argues Sheila Tate, a former US Republican official and current co-chair of a bipartisan strategic communications firm in Washington, DC.  

Embracing innovative new communication tools on the Internet and mobile phones to engage citizens has been central to the success of Barack Obama's US presidential campaign, says Brian Fetherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, in an interview with EurActiv.

Europe might find it harder to maintain good relations with Russia if Republican nominee John McCain wins the US presidential election, according to scholars surveyed by EurActiv. Despite McCain's much larger experience of European affairs, Obama is widely considered to be more supportive of EU policies and better suited to improving the overall mood of transatlantic security relations.

Supporters of EU efforts to tackle climate change may be relieved that Barack Obama and John McCain both support a cap-and-trade scheme to curb US greenhouse gas emissions, but American support for a global climate deal is not certain, analysts warn.

Joint action from the EU and US to address the financial crisis "must inevitably precede global cooperation," argues Tom Spencer, the executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, in an interview with EurActiv.

Barack Obama is unlikely to convert his protectionist rhetoric into concrete policies if he wins US presidential elections on 4 November, John Glenn of the German Marshall Fund told EurActiv in an interview.

'Females in Front', a campaign that seeks to boost women's representation in the European Parliament and other EU top jobs available next year, has embraced Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate for the US presidency, despite her long-standing opposition to abortion.

Amid their 'Obamania', Europeans tend to overlook that on certain issues like trade, a President Obama pressured by a Democrat-led Congress could be a more difficult partner in pushing for a common agenda, Francois Lafond of the German Marshall Fund told EurActiv in an interview. 

With US presidential elections looming, it is necessary to manage the expectation of change in US foreign policy to heal the transatlantic rift, says John Glenn of the German Marshall Fund of the US in a March 2008 paper, using the 2007 Transatlantic Trends survey to gather opinions on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Democrats’ success has made US climate change action much more likely in the near future, argues this article by the Pew Centre on Global Climate Change in Washington.

Alfons Westgeest, group vice-president of Kellen Company, assesses the implications for companies on both sides of the Atlantic if, as predicted, the Democrats take control of US House and Senate. 

First indications suggest that President George W. Bush is on his way to remain in power with Florida going his way. The state of Ohio will be the crucial state this year.  

Most French, Brits and Spaniards want John Kerry to win next month's presidential election - and they are not alone. A co-ordinated survey of attitudes by leading newspapers in ten nations has revealed a growing hostility towards the Bush administration.