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):
REGISTERED VOTERS
Obama 49%
Romney 46%
LIKELY VOTERS
Romney 49%
Obama 48%
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"