Knowing it was going to be a ‘big night’ in American politics, I stayed up a little in the night to glean what was probably gong to happen in some important elections held in America – the first real test of public opinion in the mass since Trump started his new term. The Democrats were engaged in several races for governorships of states and were successful in three important contests. In the most important, Zohran Mamdani, 34, has won New York City’s race for mayor in a contest that rallied young voters and sparked debate about the future direction of the Democratic Party. The Ugandan-born Mamdani, a Socialist Democrat, beat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, to become the youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US. A self-described democratic socialist, he made affordability the central message of his campaign, pledging to expand social programmes paid for by new taxes on high earners and corporations. Democrats also won governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, and in California voters backed a proposition to redraw the congressional electoral map ahead of next year’s midterm elections. These elections are important because they give Democrats a new impetus and fresh directions in which to attack the Trump presidency and are an important precursor of the important mid-term elections next year when the composition of the US Congress may well change. President Trump’s approval ratings have taken a nosedive. Once the honeymoon is over, presidents tend to lose popularity quickly. But no recent president has fallen so low so quickly as Donald Trump. At the start of his second term public opinion was nearly evenly divided between those who approved of the president and those who did not. Now his net approval rating—those who approve of the job he is doing less those who do not—is minus 18. That is three percentage points lower than any point in his first term. Mr Trump’s numbers are poor even on the issues at the centre of his political platform. Net approval for his handling of immigration is minus 7. On inflation and prices, it is minus 33. The biggest shift away from Mr Trump has been among Americans under 30 years old. His net approval among that group was positive when he returned to the Oval Office but now it is -40. His ratings among Hispanic and black Americans, which began negative, have also plummeted. And white Americans, who approved of him on net by 16 points back in January, are now evenly split. According to analysis by The Economist, every state, save Idaho, has moved against Mr Trump. Oklahoma has swung hardest, from positive 27 net approval to minus 12. The president nw has a 37% approval rating and a corresponding disapproval rating of 63%. It is the lowest rating of his second term seen in CNN polling and stands just one point higher than the 36% approval rating Trump had at this point in his first presidential term.
I knew that I needed to get my skates on and get a hotel booked for the Christmas visit to my family in Yorkshire. I used Expedia who gave me a discount for being a former customer of those and secured a room at a very good, and what I would regard as a ‘pre-Christmas’, rate. I have booked for only three nights, a day less than I had anticipated because a hospital appointment came through the day before forcing me to revise my plans somewhat and to curtail my visit by one day. But then I went and booked some train tickets which I also got at a very good price and not a great deal more than I would have spent on petrol in any case. So I am very relieved to get these bookings made and in the bag by acting promptly before prices rise.
Today is a day in the week when I have no firm commitments so I have made it a habit to go down to the Methodist Centre in the centre of town were there is a ‘chatty table’ round which anyone can sit and engage in conversation with others around the table. Today, though, did not turn out to be the happiest of experiences as I found myself, as by now I am accustomed, to be the only widower (i.e. male) amidst a group of widows. Today turned out to be unfortunate because the entire conversation within the group and sub groups around the table was a discussion of he comings and goings of their grandchildren. To this, there was evidently not an opportunity to contribute nor was it possible to move the conversation onto other topics. So I felt fairly acutely that not only was in a minority (being the only widower) but the lack of grandchildren made me feel even more of a minority within a minority. If you were to apply nationally published statistics then as a widower without grandchildren, I am outnumbered by the ratio of 20:1 and therefore feel my minority status quite acutely. So after I had drunk my coffee and when it was not evidently leaving in the middle of a conversation flow, I departed feeling rather sorry for myself. I have to evaluate whether I even try to participate in this group next week and, of course, my one male friend, an ex-bank manager, was not there today. So, I re-parked the car in a car park adjacent to the centre of town were I went to pick up the engraved tag which I had bought yesterday. When I got it home, I discovered that quotation marks around ‘Sunshine’ had been omitted by the engraver and I think this alters the symbolism of the whole, so I will have to take it back and ask them to do again properly this time and following the clear text I had provided for them. I did not feel particularly hungry and had run out of bread so could not have a quick ‘fish on bread’ quickie lunch but I made myself a meal utilising some chicken and rice which I did not particularly enjoy. The TV viewing tonight is going to be a science-based on the power of the algorithm and as this dominates our lives these days, I feel it is probably well worth a watch.