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October 4th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

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The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

The International Longshoremen’s Association announced that it had reached a tentative deal to end the strike that is affecting ports from Texas to Maine. Although the agreement will get containers moving again, it only suspends negotiations until January. Still, it is good news for Kamala Harris—a protracted and costly strike, supported by Joe Biden, could have seriously damaged her campaign.

An excerpt from Melania Trump’s upcoming memoir, published by the Guardian, revealed that she considers the decision to have an abortion to be part of “a woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty”. Donald Trump, who was instrumental in ending federal protections for abortion access, claimed this week that he would veto a national ban. Asked about his wife’s stance, he said “you have to write what you believe.”

Tim Walz, Ms Harris’s running-mate, said that “this war must end, and it must end now,” referring to conflict in the Middle East, in a virtual address to a group of Muslim voters. Democrats have been looking to shore up support with Muslim Americans, many of whom are critical of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. In Michigan, a swing state with a sizeable Muslim population, those efforts could matter.

A judge in Colorado sentenced Tina Peters, a former county clerk, to nine years in prison. In August she was convicted of tampering with voting machines, hoping to prove they had been rigged to ensure Mr Trump lost the presidential election in 2020. Ms Peters helped a man associated with a prominent election-denier gain access to the Mesa County election system.

A labour union representing 300,000 firefighters and emergency-service workers narrowly voted to not back a presidential candidate. The non-endorsement was a blow to Ms Harris, who was snubbed by the traditionally pro-Democratic Teamsters two weeks ago. In 2020 the firefighters’ union rushed to endorse Mr Biden, but it did not do the same for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Blast from the past

For almost the entire vice-presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz Americans were transported back to a different era in their politics. No one bragged about the size of their crowds, much less of their genitalia, or even called anyone else by a demeaning nickname. It was soothing, at times informative and even a bit dull. But in a good way, writes Lexington.

A view from elsewhere

Mr Trump is “setting the stage” for “a rerun of his refusal to accept electoral defeat”, wrote Imran Khalid in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper. His efforts to “sow doubt” about the “integrity and transparency” of the electoral system aren’t just about his “bruised ego”. “For Trump, conceding defeat is not an option,” he wrote; “it has never been a consideration.”

Figure of the day

92%, the gun-crime conviction rate during Ms Harris’s time as San Francisco’s district attorney, according to a book she wrote in 2009. Read our story about the vice-president’s record as a prosecutor.

We want to hear from you
With Hurricane Helene, the dockworkers’ strike and Jack Smith’s dossier detailing his election-interference case against Mr Trump, this month has already thrown up some potential game-changers. Do you think October has more surprises in store, or is the course of the election now more or less fixed? Please send your views to usib@economist.com. And, of course, we welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

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Play the archive

Dateline: The Economist history quiz

Can you guess when these extracts were published?

Games

Pint-sized news quiz

Have you been following the headlines?

Today’s forecast

Kamala Harris has pulled ahead in national polls. But because candidates must win the electoral college, not the popular vote, our forecast reckons that she and Donald Trump have nearly equal chances of becoming president.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things American. The winner of this week’s quiz, on Jimmy Carter, is Hugh Eastwood in Sand Point, Michigan. The answers were:

Monday: The Carter family farm grew peanuts. In 1976 the Indiana Democratic Party put up the Smiling Peanut, an almost 4m tall statue, in Mr Carter’s hometown of Plains. Bizarrely it is not the biggest peanut in the state—that honour belongs to Georgia’s Big Peanut.

Tuesday: George H.W. Bush lived to 94, making him the second-longest lived president after Mr Carter.

Wednesday: Mr Carter was attacked by a rabbit. While the president is happy to admit that the incident happened, he has said that Jody Powell, his press secretary at the time and the source of the story, might have exaggerated some details. Alcohol, Mr Carter suggests, might have been involved in the retelling of the tale.

Thursday: Mr Carter claims to have seen a UFO in 1969. He didn’t think it was aliens though, but rather “an electronic occurrence of some sort”.

See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.

If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s history game.

Heard on Fox News

Liz Cheney is a stupid war hawk.

—Mr Trump gets personal, and a little childish, after the former congresswoman endorsed Ms Harris.

Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.

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