Poll workers turn a gym in Manchester, New Hampshire into a voting place for the US midterm election on November 3. All seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs...plus 35 Senators’ seats, including New Hampshire, where the race could be close.
On Manchester’s streets, voters are energized—and, as in much of the country, divided on party lines.
DAVID HARGREAVES, RETIREE:
"I'm voting Democrat because the Republicans suck. (LAUGHING) I’m being very blunt. Republicans haven't done anything to help out anybody."
MARCO AMER, DENTIST:
"I will vote for, for the Republican Party. Because, I like the, the way they think about the economy, I'm not very happy with everything happening, but it's still, I'm Republican."
Pollsters will be watching swing voters most intently. Among them are disillusioned one-time Trump voters. US President Donald Trump may not be on the ballot, but for these voters, the election is a referendum on his second term.
ROB FREMEAU, MAINTENANCE WORKER:
"Previously I had supported Trump in his first run, I believe it was. When there were still adults in the room, and his competition just wasn't speaking to me. And, the adults have left the room. Things are out of control, and we just need to send anybody willing to fight back to Washington right now."
Millions of Americans have already voted. The US Postal Service is busy handling a wave of mail-in ballots...with centers like this one in Colorado processing them. Workers here say the process is secure...and transparent.
LINDA MCNEILL, USPS MAIL ELECTION WORKER:
"I really do think that people feel very secure. And we actually offer tours for individuals that can come in and do a tour of the entire process. And I think they feel much better by the time they leave."
The campaign has been fierce and controversial even amid early voting—with a race in Alaska between two candidates with the same name... and a defection in Michigan, where the loser of a key primary has endorsed the opposition party’s candidate.
As polling day looms, Trump’s narrow Republican majority could be in danger.
DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT:
"Usually whoever the sitting president is, Republican or Democrat, good or bad, good president, great president, bad. For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot."
Trump has called this the most important midterm in a lifetime. And its outcome will reverberate beyond America. In Taiwan and the rest of East Asia, decision makers are watching.
JA IAN CHONG, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE:
"I think what's most important would probably be whether there is going to be continued or potentially decreased volatility in the US foreign policy, US economic policy, including on things like tariffs and technological restrictions."
And so, a potential turning point in US politics approaches: a doubling down on “MAGA” policies or a denouncement of Trump’s second term. What follows will hold massive sway over his final years in office.
Andy Hsueh and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
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