00:00Let's talk now to Chris Carman, Professor of Politics at Glasgow University.
00:04Chris, welcome.
00:05What do you think the biggest issues are at this election?
00:08Is it about the economy, the cost of living, immigration, war, or what?
00:14All of those.
00:15The surveys pretty much show consistently that the economy and cost of living and affordability
00:22really are at the top of what Americans are concerned about.
00:26But those are linked to, say, for instance, the war in Iran because that drove up the petrol prices.
00:33Petrol prices are up about 40% over where they were this time last year, and diesel prices are up
00:39about 70%.
00:41So Americans are really feeling that because, of course, those costs then transfer over to, say,
00:47the cost of food and other things that Americans buy that are shipped around the country.
00:51So certainly the economy.
00:53But then, of interest, several polls have been showing that corruption and the future of American democracy
01:01are coming up quite high, many of the polls showing up as the second highest issue.
01:06Followed by that, health care, education, and immigration are the main issues that really are springing to people's minds.
01:13If Democrats gain control of either chamber of Congress, what would that mean for President Trump's remaining two years in
01:22office?
01:24I think it's going to be quite interesting.
01:26It's somewhat hard to predict, to tell you the truth.
01:29I think some of it will depend on whether the Democrats gain the House or the Senate or if they
01:37get both.
01:38Because if they get both, they can obviously assert a bit more sort of muscle in trying to restrain the
01:46president.
01:46One important caveat to note is that the next Congress isn't actually sworn in until the 3rd of January.
01:55So one question is, what happens from, say, Thursday of this week until the 3rd of January,
02:01when we still have the old Republican-controlled Congress trying to push through at the pieces of legislation and Trump's
02:10priorities?
02:10And then what happens after the Democrats, if they were to take the House, take over from January?
02:18Certainly we'll see a large number of investigations and the Democrats trying to reassert some of the traditional power of
02:27Congress
02:27that the Republicans have pretty much ceded and abdicated to the president.
02:32And how might the election results affect U.S. foreign policy?
02:36I'm thinking in particular relations with China, Europe, and, of course, the ongoing wars around the world.
02:45This is another one that's somewhat difficult to sort of figure out where it's going to go at this stage.
02:52Part of it is because traditionally in the United States there is a large amount of deference given to the
02:58president on foreign policy.
03:00This is the area where the courts have regularly said that this is the purview of the president's foreign policy.
03:08That said, a large portion of what goes on in foreign policy is funded through the budget, which traditionally is
03:15the remit of Congress.
03:17So Congress will use its budgetary authority as well as its ability to appoint people that the president nominates to
03:26confirm them in office
03:27to try to rein in the president as much as possible.
03:32But we can look for President Trump to try to make sure that he holds on to and continues to
03:38assert as much power as he can possibly continue to wield.
03:42Chris, good to see you. Thank you for that. Chris Carman, the professor of politics at Glasgow University.
