Later today, Tuesday 6th November, the results of the 2018 Midterm elections will be called. Whilst the Midterms aren’t necessarily seen to be such a big deal as presidential elections in the US, this year there seems to be a little more interest sparked after what has possibly been one of the more controversial first periods of presidency under Trump. To clear up some more about how the elections work, and why they really are so significant, the video, article and podcast below are a great place to start.

WATCH

This video put together by ABC News Australia describes how and why the US mid-terms elections are so important in general and why particularly this year, they could be really significant for everyone in the world, not just those in the US.

With some funky graphics, some rather entertaining clips of some US politicians and an enthusiastic Australian voice-over, this video is a good place to start if this is realistically this first time you’ve ever really heard of the mid-terms.

READ

What’s been quite interesting about this year’s Midterm election is the peaked interest that celebrities have had in vocalising their allegiances and mobilising people to vote. Taylor Swift broke her silence on politics with an Instagram post that urged young people especially to vote for who they truly believed in on election day. In the 24 hours following this post, a spike of 65,000 18-25 year olds registered to vote, suggesting some sort of correlation with Taylor’s post.

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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

This opinion piece by The Washington Post titled: ‘Taylor, Kanye and the bad blood of politics’ discusses celebrity endorsement of politics, using the recent examples of Taylor Swift and Kanye West. They even incorporate the titles of Taylor and Kanye’s tunes in the piece and include a Spotify playlist to listen to as you read if you do so wish.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/taylor-kanye-and-the-bad-blood-of-politics/2018/10/11/2bb03d8a-cd90-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a2dd4e4e4e3a

LISTEN

Whether you’re a fan of Netflix’s Queer Eye or not, this week Jonathan Van Ness’ popular podcast ‘Getting Curious’ covered the subject in the episode ‘Can Your Vote Really Make A Difference? With Nancy Pelosi’. Listen to Jonathan fan-girl over the House Minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and discuss how crucial this election is whilst running over the basics of how the US political landscape is structured.

The podcast can be found on iTunes or Spotify.

The results of the Midterms will be trickling in over-night for the UK and we will most likely know how the broader picture is looking at around 8am tomorrow morning. All major UK news outlets will be reporting on the polls as they come in so keep an eye on your preferred news app to see the final results. 

Jen Hall

Images: BBC