2012 US general election

Last update: 22nd November 2012 — Barack OBAMA is re-elected President of the United States. Congress remains roughly the same: a Republican House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate.

ELECTION CALENDAR:

Wednesday, Oct. 3 — Presidential debate on domestic policy

Thursday, Oct. 11 — Vice-presidential debate on foreign and domestic policy

Tuesday, Oct. 16 — Presidential town meeting on foreign and domestic policy

Monday, Oct. 22 — Presidential debate on foreign policy

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 — Election Day (215 Americans elect 538 electors of the Electoral College)

December 17 — The Electoral College will formally elect a President and a Vice-President

January 20th — The new President takes the oath, his new term begins at 12 p.m.

January 21st — Inauguration Day

Article of the day (click to read):

"Amid Volatile Polling, Keep an Eye on Election Fundamentals" by Nate Silver, New York Times

New York Times Apps to read the latest news on the campaign:

Read the latest GALLUP polls & election result predictions: http://www.gallup.com/poll/election.aspx

Last election result predictions (4th November 2012):

Margin of error: +/- 4 points

Obama is losing voters among men, women, college graduates and Southern voters.

List of swing states that will decide the outcome of the election (updated: 17th October)

There are 570 votes in total in the Electoral College. To win, a candidate must obtain a minimum of 270 votes.

Last week, there were 9 swing states:

COLORADO, FLORIDA, IOWA, NEVADA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN. These 11 swing states represented a total of 110 votes. These results showed the swing state vote favouring Obama (57 votes) vs. Romney (53 votes).

(Source: http://www.politico.com/2012-election/swing-state/)

This week, there are 12 swing states:

COLORADO, FLORIDA, IOWA, MICHIGAN, NEVADA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW MEXICO, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN. These results now show the swing state likely voters favouring Romney (50% of the vote / Obama 46% / undecided 4%), while Obama still holds his ground with registered voters (49% of the vote / Romney 47% / undecided 4%).

(Source: USA Today & Gallup - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/15/swing-states-poll-women-voters-romney-obama/1634791/)

Margin of error: +/- 4 points

Campaign finance: how much is the election costing?

Total so far (the numbers are still growing):

General Election = 5.8 billion dollars

This number includes 2.5 billion dollars for the Presidential election + 1.8 billion dollars for the Congressional election.

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Watch the 1st debate (3rd October 2012) between Barack Obama & Mitt Romney (or click here for transcript):

Watch the Vice-Presidential debate (11th October 2012) between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan (or click here for transcript):

Watch the 2nd debate (16th October 2012) between Barack Obama & Mitt Romney (or click here for transcript):

Watch the 3rd debate (22nd October 2012) between Barack Obama & Mitt Romney (or click here for transcript):

Watch a PBS documentary comparing the two presidential candidates:

Watch other videos about the election:

http://www.youtube.com/politics

Read other polls & articles:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/elections/ (one of the most objective websites)

Joss Whedon's hilarious viral video on Mitt Romney: "For a true zombie apocalypse, vote Romney"

http://tinyurl.com/josswhedon-apocalypse-romney