October saw politics absorb the United States of America through debates, criminal cases and gambling.
On October 1 2024, Tim Walz and JD Vance engaged in a surprisingly temperate debate where they fought the case for their respective Presidential nominees. A genuine friendship may have been forged in the fires of the Vice-Presidential debate, with both candidates showing moments of empathy and agreement.
The bookend of October was less convivial. At a Trump rally, Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage”. Joe Biden followed these remarks with a fumble by appearing to call Trump supporters garbage, a comment he later corrected.
Biden’s remarks partially subdued any potential votes coming from Puerto Ricans in the key state of Philadelphia. However, with an endorsement from Bad Bunny, Kamala Harris will hope this unsavoury development favours her this Tuesday.
One of the divisive issues in the upcoming election is abortion rights. Voters can have little question on the position of the candidates on this topic. However, Melania Trump planted some tension amongst the Republican party with her statement in favour of abortion rights, a position in opposition to that of her husband Donald.
A group of Nobel prize winning economists endorsed Harris’ economic plans. The letter was short and achieved the objective of translating economic policy differences into plain claims about day-to-day implications for voters.
Criminal cases against Donald Trump trundled along under the surface in October. With the election imminent, further developments in the cases could be contingent on how America votes this Tuesday. This is due to Trump threatening to fire Jack Smith – special counsel for the January 6 and classified files cases – upon assuming office.
On October 9, 2024 Hurricane Milton slammed Florida and over the following days dozens of people lost their lives. The climate disaster left many towns in the state decimated. The US government was able to mobilise over $2bn to support the recovery effort from both Storm Helene and Milton.
There will patently be winners and losers once the election result is declared later this week. One group will be the gamblers, who have cumulatively placed over $100mn in bets on the result. The first week of November will be one of sweaty palms for these stakeholders.
In the same week, the broader American citizenry will be engaged in a deeper game of chance which will also determine the national trajectory and international events.
Featured Image Credit: Edward Jewsbury
