Lost Hope for my country (united states)

OP have a look here to see how you can vote if you’re not living in the US uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/voting/

I disagree, it wasn't a sweep that was feared, but the numbers have moved considerably since 2016, and pretty much in one direction. And maybe most importantly there is no sign that the Democrats understand the problem, so they are unlikely to fix it. Meanwhile, if the Republicans find someone without Trumps baggage that can only improve their situation.

@MangyInseam DeSantis is becoming very popular as the candidate that can bring in many of Trump’s most popular policies but has the intelligence (BA from Yale, JD from Harvard, top of the class both times) and the political know how to appeal to a much broader demographic. (He is also decades younger, and is in his 40s).

He has been one of the very few politicians willing to go to bat in the culture war with policies dealing with Gender Ideology (especially in schools), women’s rights (minus abortion) and definition by sex in law, and is aggressively against all medical interventions for children classified as “trans”.

He won a lot of popular support and attention for being willing to call multinational company Disney’s bluff. When a law passed in Florida outlawing teaching Gender Ideology and inappropriate explicit sexual information to children in elementary (primary) school, Disney threatened to try and dismantle the law which was very popular with parents. DeSantis responded by pulling the plug on huge tax-breaks and other business advantages that had been in place for decades, benefiting Disney in the state of Florida.

DeSantis was also praised by many for keeping schools and the economy open during COVID.

How things currently stand:

DeSantis won re-election as governor in an absolute landslide, winning previously strongly Democratic counties and turning Florida from what had been a swing state into one now strongly Republican. This included winning a larger slice of the Hispanic and Latino vote.
The Disney CEO who came out against him saw Disney stock fall 40% and was just replaced this week by the previous CEO.

The Democrats have been avoiding a lot of commonsensical issues and leaving them for the Right to pick up.

However the Democrats did obviously do much better in the midterms than expected. It will be interesting to see if DeSantis’ brand of Republicanism is popular nationwide. He is already polling better nationally than Trump and has shown he can drive policy through effectively in Florida. Voters may consider DeSantis a much more likely candidate to make the policy changes they want to see at a national level, rather than the chaotic Trump.

Biden has been bleeding supporters across almost all demographics.

That was the prevailing narrative before the midterms but the Democrats did far better than expected. It's pretty much status quo with just a few more GOP house seats.

West isn't a serious candidate, and there have been plenty of people in entertainment who have gone into politics for years. Regan obviously, but also
Jesse Ventura, Schwarzenegger, Sonny Bono, just to name a few.

And I would argue that Trump's claim to fame wasn't really his television personality, he was on tv because he was already famous for being himself.

I don't know that Trump will get this, even many people who like his policies think he is now toxic. But it is going to depend a lot on the other options, and Biden has been bleeding supporters across almost all demographics. If no one offers an option people consider viable people will do what they feel they have to do. And many feel that in general Trump's policies were fairly successful.

Oh, honestly. Hit post by accident. So sorry!

US citizens living overseas are absolutely entitled to vote. First step is to look up voting procedures for your last US address. So if you last lived in Hawaii and are now in Japan, you may vote using your HI address, including for Congress. Hth!

Disappointed, I am in the US too. I am too busy for a full reply at the moment, but want to emphasize that if you are a U.S. citizen living ove

I am not a Republican, but Reagan had a long history in politics before running for President. He was orginally on the Left but moved Right and was governor of California (a state as big as the UK) from 1967-1975 before running in the Republican Presidental primaries in 1968 and 1976.
He was a big Goldwater Republican in 1964 and gained nationwide attention.

He went on to win the Election in 1980 in a landslide winning 44 states and the popular vote.

Trump is extremely unusual in that his first run for political office EVER was the Presidency and he won.

I’m constantly amazed at America’s awful politicians. There were loads of American professors at my university in the U.K., and they were great (even though I’m English, I much preferred them to the British professors). Even as a student, I used to think “why is the US elected people like Reagan and Dubya Bush when they produce brilliant people like this?!” I’m no fan of British politicians either, (actually, I’m not a fan of politicians, period!!) but I am eternally grateful that all our Prime Ministers, with a couple of exceptions, have been to Oxford. Right now, the leader, and the man in charge of our economy, both have firsts from Oxford. Thank god. And if that makes me a snob and an elitist, then fine.

*ballots.

We always need hope. It's not over. Democracy IS messy and it hasn't died. I see it in my own local politics - messy, frustrating but at times sensible.

One measure of hope is that ALL measures on the midterm ballost about abortion went in the pro-choice direction. Even in conservative states like Montana and Kentucky.

I agree that Reagan was competent and experienced. I didn't like his policy nor how he changed politics. Unlike Trump or Kanye, Reagan wasn't a loose canon.

Kanye doesn't know what PLANET he's standing on.

I wasn't advocating in Reagan's favour, @Delphinium20 , just setting the record straight that he is comparable with Kanye West. He was already a serious politician when he ran for president.

Has everyone forgotten the Kennedy clan and their multiple runs for president? Clinton may not have been from a political dynasty, but the anointment of Hilary by the Democrats as Obama's successor (and her previous run against Obama) was an attempt to create one. Coupled with people in the US trying to urge Michelle Obama to run, and at one point, Ivanka Trump having such ambitions, it just gives the impression that the USA may have thrown off the shackles of British royal rule 250 years ago, but there's still a predilection in the culture to have a "ruling class".

Let's hope for another Obama - a surprise candidate with a lot of talent.

I wish Katie Porter was our next president.

Clinton was a lower middle class kid from the Midwest who was smart and charismatic and white.

Reagan set the stage for our current loss of abortion rights by promoting a narrative of "pro-life" to pull in evangelical Christian voters. Previously, this demographic voted Democrat. He also minimized the ERA ratification which would have made sex a protected category. Just a few years prior, there was bipartisan support for the ERA.

I'm no fan of that man. He's responsible for setting the stage for where we are now, and as this is a feminist board, I am equally fearful for women's rights if no one but male celebrities with mental health issues are on the ballot.

No it’s not. Reagan was an actor then after him all the presidents - bush, Clinton, bush - were established political families

No, Clinton wasn’t.

Obama had far less political experience than Reagan when he ran for President. That's why he needed Biden on the ticket, to give him some clout and an impression of political longevity.

He also served as Governor of California for 8 years (a huge political role) and was a unionist when he was an actor.

I wouldn’t worry too much OP I am also in the US and the chances of Trump or “Ye” being a nominee in 2 yrs time are really slim. People are heartily sick of the extremism on both ends of the political spectrum right now. DeSantis is also already beating Trump in the polls and he’s not even running yet. A lot happens in politics, even in a week, let alone 2 years. A lot of people originally liked Trump for upending the political process and it was a lot of ignored and left behind Americans giving the political establishment the finger and deliberating choosing an outrageous TV personality/populist.

However, Trump got in because noone in the media and main parties took him seriously and used him for entertainment value during the Primaries, thinking his outrageous behavior would turn off voters. That obviously didn’t happen in 2016 but now Trump has no shock value any more. He is totally predictable, old, just carrying way too much abusive baggage and of course will forever be connected to the attack on the Capitol. He is also connected to a time everyone wants to put behind us: COVID, riots, protests, chaos, and storming the Capitol.

He did shake up a lot of politicians from their complacency and many people who were disconnected from politics got interested again on both sides. There is also a clear need to ditch the BabyBoomers. Pelosi has stepped down from leadership but the country wants McConnel, Trumo and Biden gone too who are all over 75.

if you are really worried get active in your local politics.

It seems lots of places have political parties that attach trans power to a very popular cause - US - right to abortion, Scotland - independence, U.K. - anti-tory. so it gets momentum by default.

Didn't Kanye date Jeffrey Starr? If so I reckon he is massively into trans issues.

He was but a lot of Americans did not like that. Nor did the Russians to be honest. Everyone else was happy