theguardian--2020-02-10--Trump submits $4.8tn budget proposal despite no chance of it passing

The Trump administration has submitted to Congress its 2021 budget proposal , a $ 4.8tn plan which has no chance of passing into law and is instead a purely political exercise , designed to put daylight between the Republican president and whichever Democratic candidate he will face at the polls in November .
To Donald Trump , every event on the presidential stage is now a re-election pitch to voters .
Democratic presidential contenders will pick over his budget proposals for lines to attack on the stump .
Trump ’ s wish list includes a $ 700bn increase over federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement of Republican priorities as the administration is likely to produce .
It includes billions more for defense and a mission to Mars alongside deep proposed cuts to foreign aid and environmental protection and new restrictions on social welfare programs .
On Saturday , Trump tweeted a promise that “ we will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget ” .
The proposal released on Monday would nonetheless cut Medicaid spending by about $ 920bn over 10 years , a reduction in the rate of growth critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of social welfare programs .
Trump would also cut by more than 20 % the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services , which includes the agency charged with combating the spread of coronavirus .
Cuts would also include reducing food stamp spending – a key programme for lower-income Americans – by $ 181bn over a decade .
Reforms to medical liability and how hospitals are paid for uninsured care are also proposed though spending on such programs is still projected to rise over a decade .
John Yarmuth , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said the budget included “ destructive changes … while extending [ Trump ’ s ] tax cuts for millionaires and wealthy corporations ” .
The House speaker , Nancy Pelosi , called the budget “ a statement of values ” , adding : “ Once again , the Trump budget makes it painfully clear how little the president values the good health , financial security and wellbeing of America ’ s hardworking families.
” The budget proposes non-defense spending cuts of 5 % , to $ 590bn , and a military spending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 740bn .
It includes a 12 % increase to Nasa for proposed travel to Mars and $ 2bn for Trump ’ s wall on the US-Mexico border , a reduction on previous requests .
Officials have claimed the project is approaching 80 % of required budget and said 400 miles of new fence will have been completed by the end of the year .
Within the overall reductions proposed are an 8 % cut to education spending , a 13 % cut for the interior department , a 15 % cut for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 26 % cut to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency .
“ For the fourth straight year , President Trump has proposed an EPA budget that undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains , and undercuts the agency ’ s ability to protect people ’ s health and the natural world that sustains us , ” the environmental lobbying body said in a statement .
“ undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains , and undercuts the agency ’ s ability to protect people ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sustains us.
” If passed , Trump ’ s budget would have little impact on the federal deficit , which the administration has promised to eliminate by 2028 , a goal it has now sidestepped for the third time in as many years .
White House officials claimed their budget proposal would close the deficit by 2035 .
Even that would be unlikely if the budget ever went into effect , since it would require the US economy to grow at 3 % for five years , a rate it has not hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presided over ballooning government debt .
In 2017 he said he aimed for a budget deficit of $ 456bn by 2021 .
The shortfall is now more than double that figure .
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office , the deficit is projected to reach $ 1.02tn this year , as spending of $ 4.6tn outpaces $ 3.6tn in tax revenue .
During Barack Obama ’ s last year in office , the deficit was less than $ 600bn .

The Trump administration has submitted to Congress its 2021 budget proposal, a $4.8tn plan which has no chance of passing into law and is instead a purely political exercise, designed to put daylight between the Republican president and whichever Democratic candidate he will face at the polls in November.
To Donald Trump, every event on the presidential stage is now a re-election pitch to voters. Democratic presidential contenders will pick over his budget proposals for lines to attack on the stump.
Trump’s wish list includes a $700bn increase over federal spending in 2018 and represents as clear a statement of Republican priorities as the administration is likely to produce. It includes billions more for defense and a mission to Mars alongside deep proposed cuts to foreign aid and environmental protection and new restrictions on social welfare programs.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted a promise that “we will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget”.
The proposal released on Monday would nonetheless cut Medicaid spending by about $920bn over 10 years, a reduction in the rate of growth critics warn could effectively reduce funding to dozens of social welfare programs.
Trump would also cut by more than 20% the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the agency charged with combating the spread of coronavirus.
Cuts would also include reducing food stamp spending – a key programme for lower-income Americans – by $181bn over a decade. Reforms to medical liability and how hospitals are paid for uninsured care are also proposed though spending on such programs is still projected to rise over a decade.
John Yarmuth, the Democratic chair of the House budget committee, said the budget included “destructive changes … while extending [Trump’s] tax cuts for millionaires and wealthy corporations”.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called the budget “a statement of values”, adding: “Once again, the Trump budget makes it painfully clear how little the president values the good health, financial security and wellbeing of America’s hardworking families.”
The budget proposes non-defense spending cuts of 5%, to $590bn, and a military spending increase by 0.3%, to $740bn.
It includes a 12% increase to Nasa for proposed travel to Mars and $2bn for Trump’s wall on the US-Mexico border, a reduction on previous requests. Officials have claimed the project is approaching 80% of required budget and said 400 miles of new fence will have been completed by the end of the year.
Within the overall reductions proposed are an 8% cut to education spending, a 13% cut for the interior department, a 15% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a 26% cut to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Environmental Protection Network called the proposed EPA cuts “wholly unacceptable”.
“For the fourth straight year, President Trump has proposed an EPA budget that undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains, and undercuts the agency’s ability to protect people’s health and the natural world that sustains us,” the environmental lobbying body said in a statement.
“undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains, and undercuts the agency’s ability to protect people’s health and the natural world that sustains us.”
If passed, Trump’s budget would have little impact on the federal deficit, which the administration has promised to eliminate by 2028, a goal it has now sidestepped for the third time in as many years.
White House officials claimed their budget proposal would close the deficit by 2035. Even that would be unlikely if the budget ever went into effect, since it would require the US economy to grow at 3% for five years, a rate it has not hit since Trump took office.
Trump has presided over ballooning government debt. In 2017 he said he aimed for a budget deficit of $456bn by 2021. The shortfall is now more than double that figure.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is projected to reach $1.02tn this year, as spending of $4.6tn outpaces $3.6tn in tax revenue.
During Barack Obama’s last year in office, the deficit was less than $600bn.


theguardian--2020-02-10--Joe Biden comes out swinging in New Hampshire – but is it too late?

There was a moment about five minutes into Joe Biden ’ s rally in Manchester , New Hampshire , that jolted members of the crowd up in their seats .
The former vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate , who has spent the past few months turning in soporific performances both on the debate stage and at his campaign events , became animated .
Donald Trump was ruining America , Biden shouted into the microphone at the event on Saturday .
He criticized the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and former mayor Pete Buttigieg , who both claimed victory in Iowa and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the New Hampshire polls .
This , at last , was the Biden his campaign talks about ; the great campaigner , the king of the soapbox , coming out swinging .
It didn ’ t last long – moments later , Biden was struggling to remember the name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that he had touted as a key achievement of his time in office with Barack Obama – but at least it gave his supporters something to cling to .
They needed it , because bright spots have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late .
After the catastrophic performance in Iowa , where he finished a distant fourth , Biden is polling fifth in New Hampshire , too , unthinkable for someone who spent most of 2019 in the lead .
Perhaps it has , at last , jolted Biden into action .
On Saturday , once he moved past the nuclear deal – the proper title is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the former vice-president was back in his stride .
After railing against Trump , he invoked his personal story .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot in my lifetime , like many of you have , ” Biden told the crowd .
“ A car accident took away my wife and daughter .
Lost my son , Beau , like many of you have done .
But I ’ ll be damned if I ’ m going to stand by and lose my country , too.
” The last line was delivered with a growl , and brought a roar of applause .
This is a new part of Biden ’ s patter , and it went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again – and tweeted it – later that day .
For all the criticism of Biden personally , his lackluster performances don ’ t stand in isolation .
There are things about his campaign , too , that just don ’ t quite work .
His slogan here , “ Biden : works for New Hampshire ” , scans as a shrug-of-the-shoulders acceptance , while on Biden ’ s yard signs the New Hampshire outline has been rendered in such a way that it looks like a raised middle finger .
At events @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ban-style sunglasses , in blue and red , a fun reference to Biden ’ s penchant for summer spectacles , but one that really had its day as a popular source of amusement back in 2014 .
While the optics are awkward , there are signs , too , that the campaign has been guilty of resting on its laurels .
In Iowa , where Biden struggled to turn out large crowds to his rallies , a campaign surrogate reassured the Washington Post ahead of the caucuses that people know Biden – they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events .
That analysis was wrong , clearly , and illustrated a gap in excitement between Biden ’ s supporters and those of his rivals – a gap which was on display on Saturday night , when Biden appeared with eight of the other candidates at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in downtown Manchester .
The dinner is a litmus rest of enthusiasm in the Democratic party , and thousands of people had packed into the arena .
Candidates ’ supporters are assigned different sections of the arena , and Buttigieg ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of yellow-clad acolytes sprawled across the far end of the arena , waving handed-out clackers and chanting : “ President Pete.
” The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren ’ s supporters , wearing light green , waving glowsticks and dancing to the Village People ’ s YMCA , occupied a broad swathe behind the speaker ’ s podium , next to a smaller but vocal mass of Sanders advocates , many waving neon pink “ Bernie ” signs .
Biden , by contrast , had lured out a tiny sliver of support .
About @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slice of the arena , boxed in on either side by Warren fans .
Some of them had T-shirts , and several of them were holding signs that collectively spelt out “ Biden 2020 ” , but as Biden , blood pumping with newfound vigor , jogged on to the stage , he would have struggled to pick them out .
“ We ’ re being led by a president , a president , who actually has no empathy , no sympathy , who mocks people , who makes fun of people with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to demean .
He doesn ’ t have a shred of decency in him , ” Biden said .
“ I ’ ll be damned if I ’ m gon na stand by and lose this election to this man.
” Biden ’ s performance wasn ’ t perfect – it might have been a good idea for him to take his hand out of his pocket , for one thing – but for those supporters who showed up it will have proved a nice fillip .
The next morning , however , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plush hotel in the seaside town of Hampton there were signs that he is still getting used to his new tub-thumping role .
Biden spent the first 10 minutes wandering slowly about the stage , reminiscing about interactions he had with political figures in the 1970s , before new Biden took over , raising his voice and laying into Trump .
The change was marked enough that it caught out Biden ’ s sound man , and the microphone began popping .
“ I understand the criticism , because we are a really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Paula Kougeas , 67 .
She was wearing a Biden T-shirt that she had purchased on the day he announced he was running for president .
“ But you know , what we have is a really fast-talking , TV-ready slick guy in the White House right now , and that ’ s exactly what we don ’ t need in a president.
” When Biden announced his third presidential campaign , in April 2019 , some wondered if he had left it too late in life .
He first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 77 years old , after five decades in public office , he has visibly slowed .
There is a video on C-Span , the non-profit which televises the process of US government , of Biden campaigning in 1987 , during his run for president .
His hairline – improbably – and bright smile are the same , but as a public speaker he is unrecognisable .
The younger Biden speaks clearly and confidently , with a quicker cadence .
He seems to be enjoying himself .
This is the Biden people think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a great campaigner , and this week , in New Hampshire , crowds have seen a version of Biden that feels far closer to the 87 version than what his supporters witnessed in Iowa .
Perhaps Biden , after his months of stagnation , and brutal Iowa wake-up call , has finally been shaken into life .
He might be able to keep up his newfound fire , recapture some of his late-1980s vigor , and turn things around in New Hampshire , and beyond .
Or , maybe , Biden has left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one .

Adam Gabbatt in Manchester, New Hampshire

There was a moment about five minutes into Joe Biden’s rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, that jolted members of the crowd up in their seats.
The former vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate, who has spent the past few months turning in soporific performances both on the debate stage and at his campaign events, became animated.
Donald Trump was ruining America, Biden shouted into the microphone at the event on Saturday. He criticized the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who both claimed victory in Iowa and are running far ahead of him in the New Hampshire polls. This, at last, was the Biden his campaign talks about; the great campaigner, the king of the soapbox, coming out swinging.
It didn’t last long – moments later, Biden was struggling to remember the name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that he had touted as a key achievement of his time in office with Barack Obama – but at least it gave his supporters something to cling to.
They needed it, because bright spots have been few and far between for Biden of late. After the catastrophic performance in Iowa, where he finished a distant fourth, Biden is polling fifth in New Hampshire, too, unthinkable for someone who spent most of 2019 in the lead.
Perhaps it has, at last, jolted Biden into action. On Saturday, once he moved past the nuclear deal – the proper title is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the former vice-president was back in his stride. After railing against Trump, he invoked his personal story.
“You know, I’ve lost a lot in my lifetime, like many of you have,” Biden told the crowd.
“A car accident took away my wife and daughter. Lost my son, Beau, like many of you have done. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and lose my country, too.”
The last line was delivered with a growl, and brought a roar of applause. This is a new part of Biden’s patter, and it went down so well that he used it again – and tweeted it – later that day.
Joe Biden shakes hands as he arrives to talk to voters in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Sunday. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA
For all the criticism of Biden personally, his lackluster performances don’t stand in isolation. There are things about his campaign, too, that just don’t quite work.
His slogan here, “Biden: works for New Hampshire”, scans as a shrug-of-the-shoulders acceptance, while on Biden’s yard signs the New Hampshire outline has been rendered in such a way that it looks like a raised middle finger. At events his staff display cardboard cutouts of Ray Ban-style sunglasses, in blue and red, a fun reference to Biden’s penchant for summer spectacles, but one that really had its day as a popular source of amusement back in 2014.
While the optics are awkward, there are signs, too, that the campaign has been guilty of resting on its laurels. In Iowa, where Biden struggled to turn out large crowds to his rallies, a campaign surrogate reassured the Washington Post ahead of the caucuses that people know Biden – they don’t need to come to events.
Q&A What are the primaries? Show The primaries and caucuses are a series of contests, in all 50 US states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which each party selects its presidential nominee. The goal for presidential candidates is to amass a majority of delegates, whose job it is to choose the nominee at the party’s national convention later in the year. In some states, delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis; other states split their delegates proportionally among top winners. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
That analysis was wrong, clearly, and illustrated a gap in excitement between Biden’s supporters and those of his rivals – a gap which was on display on Saturday night, when Biden appeared with eight of the other candidates at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in downtown Manchester.
The dinner is a litmus rest of enthusiasm in the Democratic party, and thousands of people had packed into the arena. Candidates’ supporters are assigned different sections of the arena, and Buttigieg’s crowd was the most visible, hundreds of yellow-clad acolytes sprawled across the far end of the arena, waving handed-out clackers and chanting: “President Pete.”
The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren’s supporters, wearing light green, waving glowsticks and dancing to the Village People’s YMCA, occupied a broad swathe behind the speaker’s podium, next to a smaller but vocal mass of Sanders advocates, many waving neon pink “Bernie” signs.
Biden, by contrast, had lured out a tiny sliver of support. About 100 Bidenites were sitting in a little slice of the arena, boxed in on either side by Warren fans. Some of them had T-shirts, and several of them were holding signs that collectively spelt out “Biden 2020”, but as Biden, blood pumping with newfound vigor, jogged on to the stage, he would have struggled to pick them out.
Supporters of Joe Biden hold signs at the Democratic party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday. Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
“We’re being led by a president, a president, who actually has no empathy, no sympathy, who mocks people, who makes fun of people with disabilities, who does everything he can to demean. He doesn’t have a shred of decency in him,” Biden said.
“I’ll be damned if I’m gonna stand by and lose this election to this man.”
Biden’s performance wasn’t perfect – it might have been a good idea for him to take his hand out of his pocket, for one thing – but for those supporters who showed up it will have proved a nice fillip.
Q&A What are the New Hampshire primaries? Show Most states hold primary elections, in which voters go to a polling place, mail in their ballots or otherwise vote remotely for a presidential nominee. These are much simpler than caucuses, which are hours-long meetings with multiple rounds of balloting. The first caucuses took place in Iowa on 3 February. Donald Trump won the Republican contest by a landslide, but the Democratic vote ended in chaos, with Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg both emerging as winners in a contest that was too close to call.
New Hampshire traditionally hosts the first primaries of the election year and has done so since 1920. All eyes will be on the competitive Democratic primary to see which candidate comes out on top. There will also be a Republican primary, though as Trump faces no serious competition, he is expected to win that contest by a huge margin. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
The next morning, however, as Biden returned to action at a plush hotel in the seaside town of Hampton there were signs that he is still getting used to his new tub-thumping role. Biden spent the first 10 minutes wandering slowly about the stage, reminiscing about interactions he had with political figures in the 1970s, before new Biden took over, raising his voice and laying into Trump.
The change was marked enough that it caught out Biden’s sound man, and the microphone began popping.
“I understand the criticism, because we are a really almost like a visual audience these days,” said Paula Kougeas, 67. She was wearing a Biden T-shirt that she had purchased on the day he announced he was running for president.
“But you know, what we have is a really fast-talking, TV-ready slick guy in the White House right now, and that’s exactly what we don’t need in a president.”
When Biden announced his third presidential campaign, in April 2019, some wondered if he had left it too late in life. He first ran for president in 1987, and at 77 years old, after five decades in public office, he has visibly slowed.
Q&A Why is New Hampshire important? Show While Iowa traditionally holds the first caucuses in the presidential election, New Hampshire has held the first primary since 1920. The goal for presidential candidates is to win early-voting states and create name recognition and a sense of momentum, as well to pick up their first delegates, who will eventually choose the nominee in summer. Sometimes a clear favorite for the nomination emerges quickly, but the last two major Democratic primary contests, pitting Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton and then Bernie Sanders against Clinton, have lasted from the Iowa caucuses in January through to late spring. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
There is a video on C-Span, the non-profit which televises the process of US government, of Biden campaigning in 1987, during his run for president. His hairline – improbably – and bright smile are the same, but as a public speaker he is unrecognisable. The younger Biden speaks clearly and confidently, with a quicker cadence. He seems to be enjoying himself.
This is the Biden people think of when they talk about him as a great campaigner, and this week, in New Hampshire, crowds have seen a version of Biden that feels far closer to the 87 version than what his supporters witnessed in Iowa.
Perhaps Biden, after his months of stagnation, and brutal Iowa wake-up call, has finally been shaken into life. He might be able to keep up his newfound fire, recapture some of his late-1980s vigor, and turn things around in New Hampshire, and beyond.
Or, maybe, Biden has left it too late in more ways than one.


theguardian--2020-02-08--'Real power is fear': what Machiavelli tells us about Trump in 2020

“ Real power is – I don ’ t even want to use the word – fear.
” This sentence could have been written by Niccolò Machiavelli .
It was spoken by Donald Trump in March 2016 when Trump was still only a candidate for the US presidency , and these words now appear as the epigraph to Bob Woodward ’ s book Fear : Trump in the White House .
Is a more off-putting introduction to our subject imaginable ?
If we are tempted to assign words spoken by Donald Trump to Machiavelli , it ’ s not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a long time , bolstered their sense of their own power by affecting a cynical and crafty tone in the belief that it represents the last word in Machiavellian thought .
It ’ s because we literally don ’ t know what to think of Machiavelli .
Should we admire him or not , is he with us or against us , and is he still our contemporary or is what he says ancient history ?
My little book doesn ’ t pretend to resolve these questions ; nor is it addressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel that they have right on their side – whether that side is answerable to justice or to power .
On the contrary , this book tries to stay in that uncomfortable zone of thought that sees its own indeterminacy as the very locus of politics .
I should , at this stage , give a few explanations – who is speaking , and to whom .
I don ’ t consider myself a historian of political ideas , but I approached Machiavelli a decade ago , yoking him with Leonardo da Vinci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I found Machiavelli a useful guide and support – I ’ d almost say a faithful friend , one whose intelligence never failed me .
My conversations with Machiavelli became more regular and fruitful as I approached topics of which the Florentine author was , in his day , the most clear-sighted analyst .
This happened first as I researched the political meaning of the architecture of the quattrocento .
Machiavelli taught me to see it less as a representation of power than as a machine for producing political emotions : persuasion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ republican city-states ; and intimidation , in the fortified strongholds that the princes built to keep those states in line .
In every case , Machiavelli proved a worthy brother-in-arms who , because he had thrown light on his own times , threw light on ours – proving himself a contemporary in the very best sense .
During the summer of 2016 , I gave a series of daily talks on French public radio in which I tried to articulate this capacity of Machiavellian thought to sharpen our understanding of the present .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ which in their biting brevity and direct address attempt to harmonize in style with Machiavelli – not simply his manner of writing but his art of thinking , which brings to flashpoint the fusion of poetry and politics .
Only one of these talks was not broadcast on the France Inter network during the summer of 2016 , the fifth , focused on Machiavelli ’ s reading of Lucretius ’ s De natura rerum , “ a dangerous and deviant book that makes the world jump its rails and come off its hinges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the episode on Friday 15 July , but it was swallowed up by the sorrow , anger and numbness that followed the terrorist attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on 14 July , France ’ s national holiday , when 86 people were killed and more than 400 wounded .
Although this book restores the text to its original place , there is still a gap left by the lasting stamp of fear .
Is that why I have chosen to give prominence in the book ’ s American edition to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As I write this preface , I am remembering a dialogue that I had with the political scientist Corey Robin , the author of a major book in 2004 , Fear : The History of a Political Idea .
“ One day , ” he wrote , “ the war on terrorism will come to an end .
All wars do .
And when it does , we will find ourselves still living in fear : not of terrorism or radical Islam , but of the domestic rulers that fear has left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the publication in 2015 of L ’ exercice de la peur : usages politiques d ’ une émotion ( Spreading fear : the political uses of an emotion ) , asked whether the American way of fear might be exported around the world .
We touched on Hobbes , of course , De Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt , but also Machiavelli , who continually inquired about the fears of those who govern : what makes them truly afraid ?
When justice stops being effective ( or when crimes of corruption stop being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no longer a threat , there is nothing left to cause fear in those who govern shamelessly , that is , buoyed by a mood they aren ’ t in control of and that no one is on hand to countervail .
What will then happen to the republic ?
This question inevitably arises when anxiety is felt about democracy , because the republic loses its stability when it no longer reflects a pacified equilibrium between the different fears that divide it .
In 1975 , JGA Pocock deﬁned that loss of equilibrium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when there is daylight between a republic and its values .
American historians have since associated Machiavelli ’ s name with that form of political crisis , a practice I have followed in this book .
And today we are undeniably living through another Machiavellian moment , again bringing the Florentine author close to the core of American reality .
Living in unstable times , Machiavelli was keenly aware that the old political lexicon , which the Middle Ages had inherited from Aristotle , no longer served him adequately .
He deﬁned the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of resoluteness toward truth – being unmoved by the dazzle of words to “ go straight toward the actual truth of the matter ” .
This experience , which is profoundly Machiavellian in nature , is one that recurs again and again in history , whenever the words for expressing the things of politics become obsolete .
What do we do when confronting adversaries we can ’ t put a name to ?
We call them “ fascists ” , for want of a better term – just as in Italy ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lords “ tyrants ” .
We intend to confound them , to abash and bring them down , when we should in fact be examining what they say closely for its fascist potential .
One thing is certain : when we use words from the past , we are showing our inability to understand the present .
Since the summer of 2016 , in France but also in the United States and elsewhere , every political forecast has been systematically proven wrong .
In the past few years it seems that the perverse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pollsters – who minimize the voters ’ ability to choose by presenting developments as foreordained – has turned to ﬁerce vindictiveness .
Looking only at electoral results , from the United Kingdom ’ s Brexit vote on 23 June 2016 , on whether to remain in the European Union , to Donald Trump ’ s election to the US presidency on 8 November of that same year , the qualità dei tempi has deﬁnitely turned to storms .
The consequences for the French electoral cycle , starting in January 2017 , were similarly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circumstances that eliminated all the expected candidates one after another – those picked either as favorites or as dead certainties – the election gave the presidency to Emmanuel Macron , a man who happened in his philosophical youth to have written an essay on Machiavelli .
When a journalist asked me about this electoral smash-and-grab , so characteristic of the boldness commended by the author of The Prince , I glibly described Macron as a “ Machiavelli in reverse ” , meaning that the French president had abandoned philosophy for politics , whereas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ philosophy when politics abandoned him .
What import does a virtuoso of political ruses like Machiavelli have for us ?
If he were nothing more than the wily and unscrupulous strategist that a hostile posterity has portrayed him to be , then not much at all .
In these troubled times , when the stutterers can ’ t be told from those who are talking of the future , the last people anyone wants to hear from are the so-called experts at predicting trends , who reduce all the indeterminacy in political life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action .
The simplicity of those rules has everything to do with the experts ’ lack of imagination .
Machiavelli is that thinker of alternatives who dissects every situation into an “ either/or ” , drawing a crossroads of meaning at every stage of historical development .
But if he is captivating , it ’ s because he lets us see how the social energy of political configurations always spills out of the neat constructs in which it ’ s meant to stay put .
His sentences invariably run away with him ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are only two avenues than he proceeds down a third .
When we try to work out whether a particular political situation is going to turn out one way or another , it ’ s well to remember that it is carried along by a general movement that has already occurred .
Perhaps this is what awaits many European and other world nations : they are so worried about a pending catastrophe that they won ’ t understand when it has already happened .
People who see history as primarily tragic have always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might well have been penned by a ghostly Shakespeare .
But as “ the grotesque wheels of power ” ( in Michel Foucault ’ s phrase ) grind into motion , it seems that the coarsening of public discourse we are now experiencing got its start on a less exalted stage – none other than that misleadingly named feature of Trumpian America known as “ reality TV ” .
It is there that a general disregard for the “ actual truth of the matter ” was patiently nurtured .
Not for the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in fiction .
That ’ s why , in 2017 , there was such a surge of interest in the United States in George Orwell ’ s Nineteen Eighty-Four .
Literature doesn ’ t predict the future any more than it protects us from its threats .
It warns , yes , in the sense that it sounds the alert about a catastrophe that generally doesn ’ t happen , or not in the way it was imagined .
Ever since 1984 came and went without bearing out Orwell ’ s dystopian predictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a foreshadowing or preview of a totalitarian regime .
At this stage , we know that totalitarianism is a category not so much meant to describe a political reality as to make that reality ﬁt into a pre-established form – for instance , at the end of the second world war , when the liberal democracies were intent on demonstrating that communism would pursue nazism by other means .
In a sense , totalitarianism is a political fiction .
It had its first trial in George Orwell ’ s 1949 fable and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hannah Arendt in 1951 .
We now know that what came after , what obtains today , took its place without receiving a name .
Orwell imagined the tyranny of a “ Ministry of Truth ” but that ’ s not what happened , and we don ’ t yet know if it ’ s for better or worse .
“ The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears , ” Orwell ’ s hero , Winston Smith , says in Nineteen Eighty-Four .
And : “ Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied.
” What the novel describes is the capacity of propaganda to hollow out a receptive space in people by undermining reality and sense experiences .
“ The evidence of one ’ s eyes and ears ” referred to by Orwell could be common sense ; it could also be that sixth sense Machiavelli spoke of , the accessory knowledge that the people have of what is dominating them .
Admittedly it was not the Party , as imagined by anti-totalitarian writers , that spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ press secretary , declared , “ Our intention is never to lie to you , ” before adding “ sometimes we can disagree with the facts.
” It ’ s not a Party , but it ’ s something else that we don ’ t know what to call , a fiction that is taking on body under our eyes .
And what we need to understand is : what is this taking on of body , and how can our own society come to embody monstrousness ?
Gramsci read Machiavelli ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” with the word “ party ” .
We could in turn read Orwell and replace “ party ” with “ prince ” .
Either way , Machiavelli needs to be read not in the present , but in the future tense .
Should we look in Machiavelli ’ s work for the art of coming to terms over our disagreements or look instead for that skill the dominated have of recognizing the science of their domination ?
And in that case , why not look at his theater , his histories , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the summer of 2016 to reconstruct the face of Machiavelli hidden by the mask of Machiavellianism ; and if that face turned out to be as changeable as a storm-tossed sky , it ’ s because its owner hardly had the time to choose among his different talents .
They all brought him back to his art of naming with precision that which was happening , his ability to take stock implacably , inextricably joining poetry and politics .
Three years later , what is the sense of spending further time with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that Walter Benjamin attributed to the very ambition of history : “ To articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it ‘ the way it really was ’ .
It means to seize hold of a memory as it ﬂashes up at a moment of danger.
” • None This is an edited extract from Machiavelli : The Art of Teaching People What to Fear by Patrick Boucheron , published in the US by Other Press

“Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear.”
This sentence could have been written by Niccolò Machiavelli. It was spoken by Donald Trump in March 2016 when Trump was still only a candidate for the US presidency, and these words now appear as the epigraph to Bob Woodward’s book Fear: Trump in the White House.
Is a more off-putting introduction to our subject imaginable? If we are tempted to assign words spoken by Donald Trump to Machiavelli, it’s not just because many western leaders have, and for a long time, bolstered their sense of their own power by affecting a cynical and crafty tone in the belief that it represents the last word in Machiavellian thought. It’s because we literally don’t know what to think of Machiavelli. Should we admire him or not, is he with us or against us, and is he still our contemporary or is what he says ancient history?
My little book doesn’t pretend to resolve these questions; nor is it addressed to those who will read it to feel that they have right on their side – whether that side is answerable to justice or to power. On the contrary, this book tries to stay in that uncomfortable zone of thought that sees its own indeterminacy as the very locus of politics.
I should, at this stage, give a few explanations – who is speaking, and to whom. I don’t consider myself a historian of political ideas, but I approached Machiavelli a decade ago, yoking him with Leonardo da Vinci in an essay on contemporaneousness. Unexpectedly, I found Machiavelli a useful guide and support – I’d almost say a faithful friend, one whose intelligence never failed me.
My conversations with Machiavelli became more regular and fruitful as I approached topics of which the Florentine author was, in his day, the most clear-sighted analyst. This happened first as I researched the political meaning of the architecture of the quattrocento. Machiavelli taught me to see it less as a representation of power than as a machine for producing political emotions: persuasion, in the public buildings of the republican city-states; and intimidation, in the fortified strongholds that the princes built to keep those states in line. In every case, Machiavelli proved a worthy brother-in-arms who, because he had thrown light on his own times, threw light on ours – proving himself a contemporary in the very best sense.
During the summer of 2016, I gave a series of daily talks on French public radio in which I tried to articulate this capacity of Machiavellian thought to sharpen our understanding of the present. My little book collects those texts, which in their biting brevity and direct address attempt to harmonize in style with Machiavelli – not simply his manner of writing but his art of thinking, which brings to flashpoint the fusion of poetry and politics.
Only one of these talks was not broadcast on the France Inter network during the summer of 2016, the fifth, focused on Machiavelli’s reading of Lucretius’s De natura rerum, “a dangerous and deviant book that makes the world jump its rails and come off its hinges”. The plan was to air the episode on Friday 15 July, but it was swallowed up by the sorrow, anger and numbness that followed the terrorist attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on 14 July, France’s national holiday, when 86 people were killed and more than 400 wounded. Although this book restores the text to its original place, there is still a gap left by the lasting stamp of fear.
In 1975, JGA Pocock deﬁned 'the Machiavellian moment', when there is daylight between a republic and its values
Is that why I have chosen to give prominence in the book’s American edition to the politics of fear? Not solely. As I write this preface, I am remembering a dialogue that I had with the political scientist Corey Robin, the author of a major book in 2004, Fear: The History of a Political Idea.
“One day,” he wrote, “the war on terrorism will come to an end. All wars do. And when it does, we will find ourselves still living in fear: not of terrorism or radical Islam, but of the domestic rulers that fear has left behind.” Our discussion, which led to the publication in 2015 of L’exercice de la peur: usages politiques d’une émotion (Spreading fear: the political uses of an emotion), asked whether the American way of fear might be exported around the world.
We touched on Hobbes, of course, De Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt, but also Machiavelli, who continually inquired about the fears of those who govern: what makes them truly afraid? When justice stops being effective (or when crimes of corruption stop being punished) and when political violence is no longer a threat, there is nothing left to cause fear in those who govern shamelessly, that is, buoyed by a mood they aren’t in control of and that no one is on hand to countervail. What will then happen to the republic? This question inevitably arises when anxiety is felt about democracy, because the republic loses its stability when it no longer reflects a pacified equilibrium between the different fears that divide it.
Niccolò Machiavelli, by Santi di Tito. Photograph: Imagno/Getty Images
In 1975, JGA Pocock deﬁned that loss of equilibrium as “the Machiavellian moment”, when there is daylight between a republic and its values. American historians have since associated Machiavelli’s name with that form of political crisis, a practice I have followed in this book. And today we are undeniably living through another Machiavellian moment, again bringing the Florentine author close to the core of American reality.
Living in unstable times, Machiavelli was keenly aware that the old political lexicon, which the Middle Ages had inherited from Aristotle, no longer served him adequately. He deﬁned the intellectual’s task as a kind of resoluteness toward truth – being unmoved by the dazzle of words to “go straight toward the actual truth of the matter”.
This experience, which is profoundly Machiavellian in nature, is one that recurs again and again in history, whenever the words for expressing the things of politics become obsolete. What do we do when confronting adversaries we can’t put a name to? We call them “fascists”, for want of a better term – just as in Italy’s medieval communes, the people called the lords “tyrants”. We intend to confound them, to abash and bring them down, when we should in fact be examining what they say closely for its fascist potential. One thing is certain: when we use words from the past, we are showing our inability to understand the present.
Since the summer of 2016, in France but also in the United States and elsewhere, every political forecast has been systematically proven wrong. In the past few years it seems that the perverse pleasure that the public takes in contradicting pollsters – who minimize the voters’ ability to choose by presenting developments as foreordained – has turned to ﬁerce vindictiveness. Looking only at electoral results, from the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, on whether to remain in the European Union, to Donald Trump’s election to the US presidency on 8 November of that same year, the qualità dei tempi has deﬁnitely turned to storms.
The consequences for the French electoral cycle, starting in January 2017, were similarly astounding. Following a series of extraordinary circumstances that eliminated all the expected candidates one after another – those picked either as favorites or as dead certainties – the election gave the presidency to Emmanuel Macron, a man who happened in his philosophical youth to have written an essay on Machiavelli. When a journalist asked me about this electoral smash-and-grab, so characteristic of the boldness commended by the author of The Prince, I glibly described Macron as a “Machiavelli in reverse”, meaning that the French president had abandoned philosophy for politics, whereas Machiavelli chose to make his mark in philosophy when politics abandoned him.
What do we do when confronting adversaries we can’t put a name to? We call them 'fascists', for want of a better term
What import does a virtuoso of political ruses like Machiavelli have for us? If he were nothing more than the wily and unscrupulous strategist that a hostile posterity has portrayed him to be, then not much at all. In these troubled times, when the stutterers can’t be told from those who are talking of the future, the last people anyone wants to hear from are the so-called experts at predicting trends, who reduce all the indeterminacy in political life to a few elementary rules of collective action. The simplicity of those rules has everything to do with the experts’ lack of imagination.
Machiavelli is that thinker of alternatives who dissects every situation into an “either/or”, drawing a crossroads of meaning at every stage of historical development. But if he is captivating, it’s because he lets us see how the social energy of political configurations always spills out of the neat constructs in which it’s meant to stay put. His sentences invariably run away with him; he has no sooner declared that there are only two avenues than he proceeds down a third. When we try to work out whether a particular political situation is going to turn out one way or another, it’s well to remember that it is carried along by a general movement that has already occurred. Perhaps this is what awaits many European and other world nations: they are so worried about a pending catastrophe that they won’t understand when it has already happened.
People who see history as primarily tragic have always felt that the scenes of our disarray might well have been penned by a ghostly Shakespeare. But as “the grotesque wheels of power” (in Michel Foucault’s phrase) grind into motion, it seems that the coarsening of public discourse we are now experiencing got its start on a less exalted stage – none other than that misleadingly named feature of Trumpian America known as “reality TV”. It is there that a general disregard for the “actual truth of the matter” was patiently nurtured. Not for the first time have upcoming politics had their start in fiction.
An exhibit at the University of New Mexico. Photograph: Russell Contreras/AP
That’s why, in 2017, there was such a surge of interest in the United States in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Literature doesn’t predict the future any more than it protects us from its threats. It warns, yes, in the sense that it sounds the alert about a catastrophe that generally doesn’t happen, or not in the way it was imagined. Ever since 1984 came and went without bearing out Orwell’s dystopian predictions, we no longer read his novel as a foreshadowing or preview of a totalitarian regime. At this stage, we know that totalitarianism is a category not so much meant to describe a political reality as to make that reality ﬁt into a pre-established form – for instance, at the end of the second world war, when the liberal democracies were intent on demonstrating that communism would pursue nazism by other means.
Gramsci read Machiavelli replacing 'prince' with 'party'. We could read Orwell and replace 'party' with 'prince'
In a sense, totalitarianism is a political fiction. It had its first trial in George Orwell’s 1949 fable and was then given a theoretical analysis by Hannah Arendt in 1951. We now know that what came after, what obtains today, took its place without receiving a name. Orwell imagined the tyranny of a “Ministry of Truth” but that’s not what happened, and we don’t yet know if it’s for better or worse. “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” Orwell’s hero, Winston Smith, says in Nineteen Eighty-Four. And: “Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied.” What the novel describes is the capacity of propaganda to hollow out a receptive space in people by undermining reality and sense experiences. “The evidence of one’s eyes and ears” referred to by Orwell could be common sense; it could also be that sixth sense Machiavelli spoke of, the accessory knowledge that the people have of what is dominating them.
Admittedly it was not the Party, as imagined by anti-totalitarian writers, that spoke when Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, declared, “Our intention is never to lie to you,” before adding “sometimes we can disagree with the facts.” It’s not a Party, but it’s something else that we don’t know what to call, a fiction that is taking on body under our eyes. And what we need to understand is: what is this taking on of body, and how can our own society come to embody monstrousness? Gramsci read Machiavelli’s The Prince replacing the word “prince” with the word “party”. We could in turn read Orwell and replace “party” with “prince”. Either way, Machiavelli needs to be read not in the present, but in the future tense.
Should we look in Machiavelli’s work for the art of coming to terms over our disagreements or look instead for that skill the dominated have of recognizing the science of their domination? And in that case, why not look at his theater, his histories, even his love poetry?
I tried during the summer of 2016 to reconstruct the face of Machiavelli hidden by the mask of Machiavellianism; and if that face turned out to be as changeable as a storm-tossed sky, it’s because its owner hardly had the time to choose among his different talents. They all brought him back to his art of naming with precision that which was happening, his ability to take stock implacably, inextricably joining poetry and politics.
Three years later, what is the sense of spending further time with Machiavelli? The same sense, perhaps, that Walter Benjamin attributed to the very ambition of history: “To articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it ‘the way it really was’. It means to seize hold of a memory as it ﬂashes up at a moment of danger.”


theguardian--2020-02-11--US politics: Sanders and Buttigieg go head to head as Democrats vote in New Hampshire – live

Michael Bloomberg may not be running in today ’ s New Hampshire primary , but he might end up being one of its major beneficiaries .
The former New York mayor is taking a radical approach to the primaries , ignoring the first four and only entering the race on Super Tuesday .
With that in mind , he has been blanketing California and other large states with advertising , spending hundreds of millions of dollars from his multi-billion-dollar fortune .
Bernie Sanders in particular has been outraged at this strategy , accusing the centrist former mayor of trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also hit out at the Democratic National Committee for changing its rules regarding who qualifies to take part in debates – a move widely seen as paving the way for Bloomberg to take the stage for the first time .
The reason Bloomberg – who is running on a platform of gun control , an expansion of Medicare health coverage , and a less radical climate-change policy than some of his rivals – has not qualified for debates so far is because the old rules required candidates to have taken in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billionaire Bloomberg is funding his campaign himself .
The former mayor ’ s defence is basically that needs must .
“ Someone said : ‘ Are you spending too much money ?
’ and I said : ‘ I ’ m spending money to get rid of Donald Trump , ’ ” he said recently .
“ And the guy said : ‘ Spend more.
’ ” His strategy is bound to provide fodder for political-science exam questions for years to come , and so far it seems to be bearing fruit .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in recent polling averages , and will have been heartened by a Quinnipiac poll yesterday showing he now comes second to Joe Biden among black voters ( 22 % to 27 % ) .
Not only has Biden ’ s strength with African Americans been seen as one of the pillars of his claim to electability so far , but Bloomberg was seen to have a major potential problem with many black voters .
While he was weighing up whether to run , he apologised for the police “ stop and frisk ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disproportionately targetted black and Latino people .
“ I was wrong , and I am sorry , ” he said .
The new polling figures suggest some black voters are willing to consider him despite the controversy .
If Biden ’ s candidacy implodes , he , Pete Buttigieg and to a lesser extent Amy Klobuchar will try to make the case to centrist Democrats that they can beat Bernie Sanders and then Donald Trump .
But Bloomberg has a long way to go on Super Tuesday – he is still polling in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example , despite all his spending .

11 Feb 2020 23.23 GMT Summary The nation’s first primary is still underway — polls will begin to close at 7pm ET.
Exit polls found that more than 80% of New Hampshir e Democratic voters felt “angry” about the Trump administration.
felt “angry” about the Trump administration. All four prosecutors who tried Roger Stone in November have resigned after the president tweeted criticism of their sentencing suggestion and the Justice Department revised the recommendation.
in November have resigned after the president tweeted criticism of their sentencing suggestion and the Justice Department revised the recommendation. Trump said the military may consider disciplining Lt Col Alexander Vindman, who delivered damaging testimony in the impeachment inquiry and was fired last week.
Follow the Guardian’s live coverage of the New Hampshire primaries: New Hampshire primary polls to close soon with Sanders favorite to win – live Read more
11 Feb 2020 23.04 GMT More from the Democratic primaries: 'Ask God to guide my hand' Jonathan Freedland A voter carries his ballot from a voting booth while voting in the New Hampshire. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters Like many New Hampshire voters, Shalimar, who works as an interpreter in Manchester and who was reluctant to give her last name, confessed that she was still undecided as she entered her local polling place this afternoon, in the third ward of the city. She was wavering between a vote for Bernie Sanders and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. How would she choose between them? “Ask God to guide my hand,” she said, laughing. She added that she’d also found Amy Klobuchar impressive but feared the senator’s gender would prove an obstacle. “I don’t think America’s ready for that, for a woman being in that office. I think we’ve gone backwards.” She said that she worried about Sanders’ “age and health” but above all she was anxious at what Donald Trump would do if elected to a second term. “I’m very scared,” she said. Jeannie Peschier, aged 57 and a carer for her elderly father, had suffered no last-minute hesitation. She was all in for Sanders. “We’ve got to get rid of that bozo,” she said of Trump. “Bernie is the one with the integrity, the consistency - he’s bold like FDR. He’s for us regular people who run out of money at the end of the month.” Did she share the much-discussed fears over Sanders’ electability? “No. He’s a populist like Trump. He’ll know what to do. Bernie will kick his butt. Trump will be in the corner crying after Bernie gets done with him.”
11 Feb 2020 22.40 GMT All four Roger Stone prosecutors have resigned, as Trump suggests discipline for impeachment witness FOURTH Stone prosecutor withdraws from the case: Michael Marando. pic.twitter.com/HE93Qo4YOM — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 11, 2020 Aaron Zelinsky, Jonathan Kravis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando — the four prosecutors who tried Roger Stone in November — have exited. After Trump tweeted their sentencing recommendation of 7-9 years for Stone was a “miscarriage of justice,” the justice department changed the recommendation. A spokesperson for the department said there was no coordination with Trump. Even as he criticized the sentencing of Stone, the president appeared to endorse a harsher disciplining of Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council aide who provided damaging testimony in Trump’s impeachment inquiry and was fired from his job last week. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the military may consider disciplinary action against Vindman. “That’s going to be up to the military, we’ll have to see, but if you look at what happened, they’re going to certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that,” Trump said. “The military can handle him.”
Updated at 23.11 GMT
11 Feb 2020 22.22 GMT Exit poll finds 81% of New Hampshire Democratic voters are 'angry' about the Trump administration New Hampshire Democratic voters are angry about the Trump administration, a CNN exit poll found. The majority — 62% — said Democrats should nominate a candidate who can beat Trump rather than someone who agrees with them on issues. Ahead of the election today, Bernie Sanders had been leading in polls, followed closely by Pete Buttigieg. The CNN exit poll found that 60% of the voters in New Hampshire decided who they’d vote for this month — and more than half of them made up their minds in the past few days. The results are based on interviews conducted throughout the day with nearly 2,000 Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire.
Updated at 22.39 GMT
11 Feb 2020 22.15 GMT At the White House, Donald Trump attacked federal prosecutors involved in the Roger Stone case. “I thought the whole prosecution was ridiculous,” he said. I thought it was an insult to our country and it shouldn’t happen.” The prosecutors — three of whom have exited the Justice Department after Trump tweeted criticism of their sentencing recommendation in the Stone case — “ are the same Mueller people that put everybody through hell,” Trump added. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer — the Senate minority leader — has sent a letter to the Justice Department’s watchdog to investigate the reduced sentence recommendation for Stone. NEW: @SenSchumer has sent a letter to the DOJ IG requesting sn investigation into the reduced sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone —> pic.twitter.com/qiN1hY2Hpk — Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 11, 2020
11 Feb 2020 21.52 GMT Summary It’s primary day in New Hampshire and here’s where we are: A close race in the Granite State primary had senator Bernie Sanders facing down former mayor Pete Buttigieg, senator Elizabeth Warren, former veep Joe Biden and others.
had senator Bernie Sanders facing down former mayor Pete Buttigieg, senator Elizabeth Warren, former veep Joe Biden and others. Senator Amy Klobuchar seemed to be heading into election night with a head of steam, but she is working her way up from quite a ways back in the polls and time was short.
seemed to be heading into election night with a head of steam, but she is working her way up from quite a ways back in the polls and time was short. Biden made headlines – the wrong kind of headlines – this morning when he announced he was not sticking around for the results to come in in New Hampshire. He decamped for South Carolina, the next contest, where he hopes to finally gain some traction with voters.
– this morning when he announced he was not sticking around for the results to come in in New Hampshire. He decamped for South Carolina, the next contest, where he hopes to finally gain some traction with voters. The first exit polls, which can indicate features of the electorate including their top issues of concern – but which also can be misleading if too much extrapolation is performed – are due at 5pm.
which can indicate features of the electorate including their top issues of concern – but which also can be misleading if too much extrapolation is performed – are due at 5pm. Most polls close at 7pm ET, though some will stay open as late as 8pm, and results are expected soon after that.
though some will stay open as late as 8pm, and results are expected soon after that. In non-presidential-campaign news, three prosecutors in the case of Donald Trump crony Roger Stone resigned on Tuesday following a Trump tweet criticizing the justice department’s sentencing recommendation in the case and a subsequent announcement that the department was reversing that recommendation.
11 Feb 2020 21.44 GMT Third prosecutor exits Stone case Whatever is happening behind the scenes in the justice department’s prosecution of Roger Stone, a large chunk of the team that had, until the day Donald Trump tweeted about the case, been running the prosecution now wants no part of it: A THIRD Stone prosecutor has now dropped out of the case: Adam Jed. pic.twitter.com/vLzMxJi5Z7 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 11, 2020
11 Feb 2020 21.32 GMT After Trump tweet and justice department reversal, second prosecutor in Stone case resigns Off the campaign trail for a moment – in an accelerating chain of events initiated by a Donald Trump tweet criticizing federal prosecutors for recommending 7-9 years in prison for Trump pal Roger Stone, two prosecutors in the case have resigned their positions. Former justice department officials warned that the appearance was strong that someone acting on direct or tacit orders from the president had intervened in the case of Stone, the president’s friend and longtime adviser, tipping the scales of justice in Stone’s favor. The departure of the prosecutors was a highly unusual twist after the justice department reversed its sentencing recommendations just one day after making them. No explicit reasoning was given for the resignations but one prosecutor noted the resignation was effective “immediately after this filing”. Following the resignation from the case of prosecutor Aaron Zelinksy earlier today, prosecutor Jonathan Kravis has told the court that “he has resigned as an Assistant United States Attorney and therefore no longer represents the the government in this matter.” Zelinksy will remain assistant US attorney in Maryland while Kravis leaves the justice department. Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering in a case related to the special counsel Robert Mueller investigation. After Trump tweeted this morning that the sentencing recommendation was a “miscarriage of justice,” the justice department changed the recommendation of a 7-9 year sentence.
“The department finds the recommendation extreme and excessive and disproportionate to Stone’s offences,” an anonymous source told the Washington Post. “The department will clarify its position later today.” A justice department spokesperson insisted there had been no coordination with Trump. Kerri Kupec has gone on the record with similar assertions. https://t.co/RdHQxbJzC7 pic.twitter.com/EWwfHXRfy0 — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 11, 2020 Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has called for an investigation by the justice department inspector general. The DOJ Inspector General must open an investigation immediately.
I will be sending a formal request to the IG shortly.https://t.co/JkpEzkZQFT — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 11, 2020 And many former justice department officials and others are sounding a note of alarm: This, the 2nd withdrawal notice from a career prosecutor, speaks loudly to those of us who used to work at DOJ. There is a 4-alarm fire at Justice. https://t.co/i1qfsOwTbo — Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 11, 2020 Career prosecutors should not have to resign. This is how Trump will re-make the DOJ as his. The political appointees should be a buffer for that. That said, proud of them for standing up and stepping out. They clearly felt there was no choice. https://t.co/oHTfk9HykX — Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) February 11, 2020 The career staff at DOJ are showing the moral courage that has been lacking from the political appointees for three years. https://t.co/C3zAE7scJt — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) February 11, 2020 As red alarm days go, this is a big one. — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 11, 2020
11 Feb 2020 20.47 GMT 'I got up at 6am to vote for you' Lauren Gambino It’s a quadrennial tradition in New Hampshire: candidates pop up at polling stations as voters cast their ballots in the state’s first-in-the-nation-primary. Elizabeth Warren visited a handful of polling stations today, delivering Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and Munchkins to volunteers who line the sidewalks with posters. At a stop in Nashua, her supporters chanted “Just two cents” – a reference to her wealth tax – and “C-F-P-B. She fights for you. She fights for me.” The art of the primary day polling station stop: selfies, Dunkin’ and lots of handshaking pic.twitter.com/pSmM2uCsak — Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) February 11, 2020 When Warren arrived, a crush of cameras and supporters rushed to the senator. One woman wiped tears from her eyes. Another thanked her for running. “I got up at 6am to vote for you,” another volunteer said.
The Massachusetts senator shook hands and took actual selfies – as opposed to the photographs she takes in her famous, if controversially named, “selfie line.” Afterward, she took a handful of questions from journalists. One reporter asked what message it sent to the voters of New Hampshire that Joe Biden was leaving the state for South Carolina on Tuesday night instead of staying to attend his primary night party. “I think it says that he’s not here to fight for the votes in New Hampshire,” she said. “I think that this is what democracy is about. You get out there, you talk to voters and we fight for every vote. That’s who I am. I am a fighter.”
11 Feb 2020 19.57 GMT Pictures Near the Town Hall Building in Franconia, New Hampshire. Photograph: Herb Swanson/EPA Nashua, New Hampshire. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. Photograph: Herb Swanson/EPA Nashua, New Hampshire. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
11 Feb 2020 19.17 GMT Let s/he among us who has not “eeny-meeny-miny-moe’d it” when faced with a major life decision cast the first stone. Undecided voters are morons pic.twitter.com/4QKrHKBbXD — Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) February 11, 2020 (We disagree strenuously with the notion that undecided voters are morons.)
Updated at 19.17 GMT
11 Feb 2020 18.51 GMT Voters at the polls: who they picked and why Adam Gabbatt It’s a foul day in New Hampshire, but that hasn’t stopped Gail Proctor from standing outside her polling station in Wilton, where she is holding a sign saying: “Make America kind again”. With less than six hours until the polls closed, Proctor, 69, is still undecided, although she has managed to narrow it down to three people. “Elizabeth, because she’s so smart and I feel she’s the one with the skills, the ability and the experience to deal with what’s really wrong in America, which is the money, the corporatists,” Proctor said. “Then my heart’s always with Bernie, but I worry about electability. And then Pete.” Gail, a Klobuchar supporter; also Gail, (still) undecided; and Karon, who voted for Buttigieg pic.twitter.com/f3A2J9md0x — Adam Gabbatt (@adamgabbatt) February 11, 2020 Karon Walker, 61, was also positioned outside Wilton town hall, about 25 miles south-west of Manchester. Walker was encouraging Proctor to vote for Buttigieg. “He’s my man, he’s terrific. The antithesis of what we have in the Oval Office right now,” Walker said. She was a Republican, until Trump won the party’s nomination in 2016. “The Republican party is now Trump’s party, with the exception of Mitt Romney,” Walker said. She decided Buttigieg was her candidate all the way back in April. “Pete’s intelligence and compassion and thoughtfulness and his demeanour, frankly. he’s Not gonna get dragged into the fray,” Walker said. “Wherever Donald Trump goes he creates havoc. And I think that if you allow yourself to be drawn into that and argue with him on his own terms, you’ve already lost. And I don’t think Pete does that.” Proctor and Walker were joined by Gail Hoar, 79, an artist who lives nearby. Hoar was voting for Amy Klobuchar, who has made a late surge in New Hampshire. “She’s bright, she’s non-divisive she has not taken a stand that castigates other people. If she differs on policy she says: ‘We differ on policy but we’re together,’” Hoar said. “Also she is somebody that I think many people can relate to. I can’t find a negative about her. She has not gone too far on the healthcare too quickly. We need to get to where Bernie is but we need to take time to get there.”
11 Feb 2020 18.31 GMT How will tonight go for the candidates? Who’s laying wagers? level of surprise if ________ won New Hampshire
Sanders: 😐
Buttigieg: 😐
Warren: 🤔 🤔
Biden: between 🤔 and 🤯, much closer to 🤯
Klobuchar: between 🤔 and 🤯, much closer to 🤯
Anyone else: full 🤯 — David Byler (@databyler) February 11, 2020 Klob can probably get away with 3rd. Sanders can probably deal with second. Buttigieg might be able to slide to third. Otherwise, accurate. https://t.co/kh6ooMulY6 — Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) February 11, 2020 I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Buttigieg’s best town of any size tonight will be Bedford, NH. But I’d expect most of the map (non-major metro NH) to be shaded Bernie. — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) February 11, 2020 Biden might cut this factoid out to hang on the fridge: Dem candidates who have finished *worse* than 3rd in NH and still gone on to win states:
2004: John Edwards (4th, 12%)
1992: Jerry Brown (5th, 8%)
1988: Jesse Jackson (4th, 8%); Al Gore (5th, 7%)
1984: Jesse Jackson (4th, 6%) — Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) February 11, 2020


theguardian--2020-02-11--US briefing: New Hampshire, Trump v Amazon and the eviction epidemic

Donald Trump descended on New Hampshire on Monday for a rally designed to rattle his prospective Democratic election rivals , on the eve of the state ’ s first-in-the-nation presidential primary .
The president also released his $ 4.8tn 2021 budget plan , which has no chance of passing but could prove an effective campaign tool .
Bernie Sanders leads the polls going into Tuesday ’ s vote , as he and Pete Buttigieg try to cement their places as the party ’ s rival frontrunners .
• None Joe Biden .
The former US vice president is trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disappointment in Iowa but he remains prone to strange digressions on the stump .
• None Politics blog .
Today ’ s blog is up .
You can follow it here .
Amazon is seeking a deposition from Trump over its loss of a $ 10bn US military cloud computing contract that was ultimately awarded to Microsoft .
Amazon was considered the frontrunner for the project , and has sued the administration , claiming that the president ’ s personal bias against the company destroyed its bid .
In a court filing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported that Trump had told Jim Mattis , then defense secretary , to “ screw Amazon ” out of the contract .
• None Philippines agreement .
Rodrigo Duterte , president of the Philippines , has announced that he will terminate a longstanding visiting forces agreement between his country and the US , after the US rescinded the visa of one of his close allies .
• None Brain injuries .
The official number of US troops who suffered traumatic brain injury in an Iranian missile strike on their base in Iraq last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to 100 .
As the death toll from the coronavirus passed 1,000 on Tuesday , Hong Kong ’ s leading public health epidemiologist told the Guardian that if the outbreak can not be brought under control , it could ultimately infect as much as two-thirds of the world ’ s population .
Sarah Boseley , the paper ’ s health editor , explains how so-called super-spreaders transmit infections such as the coronavirus to far more people than the majority do .
• None Xi Jinping .
Two senior health officials have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outbreak originated , as a prominent intellectual became China ’ s first major public figure to blame its president , Xi Jinping , for the mismanagement of the crisis .
The eviction epidemic plaguing the US Across the US in 2016 – the most recent annual data available – an estimated 2.3 million people were evicted from their homes .
With rents on the rise and affordable housing units fast disappearing , the nation ’ s legal system remains weighted towards wealthy landlords , rather than vulnerable tenants .
Michael Sainato meets some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eviction crisis in Virginia , Georgia and South Carolina .
• None Eviction rates .
The US cities with the highest incidence of eviction are Memphis , Phoenix and Atlanta , where some predominantly black neighborhoods face eviction rates of 40 % .
• None At least two civilians and three military personnel have been killed by a suicide bombing in Kabul , in the first major attack on the Afghan capital for several months .
• None A boat carrying some 125 Rohingya refugees has capsized in the Bay of Bengal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board from Bangladesh to Malaysia .
At least 16 people are believed to have drowned in the accident .
• None The most senior diplomat ever to have defected from North Korea has announced his intention to run for parliament in South Korea , to “ give hope ” to others who have fled the Pyongyang regime .
• None Scientists in Canada say they have discovered a new species of dinosaur , closely related to Tyrannosaurus Rex , which they have given the Greek name Thanatotheristes degrootorum , or Reaper of death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tampons world , with a 29 % global market share .
But a new wave of brands touting themselves as more ethical , more ecological – and more feminist – is challenging its market dominance .
Sophie Elmhirst reports .
The Australian bushfires have charred an area bigger than Ireland , taken 33 lives and thousands of homes , devastated wildlife and shrouded cities in toxic smoke .
As this special report explains , they have also fundamentally altered Australians ’ view of the climate emergency .
Who will win Oscars in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over , which means that the 2021 awards race is about to begin .
From Will Smith ’ s biopic of Richard Williams ( father of Venus and Serena ) to Ana de Armas playing Marilyn Monroe , Benjamin Lee assesses the early runners and riders .
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre was shot as she cycled home through Juárez last month .
An outpouring of rage followed the 25-year-old artist ’ s death but , amid Mexico ’ s continuing war on women , her friends and comrades hold out little hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Market highs and unemployment lows may give the impression that the US economy is thriving under Trump .
But to America ’ s 140 million poor , the economy is his greatest weakness , says the Reverend William Barber .
Vanessa Bryant , the widow of Kobe Bryant , has written publicly for the first time about the death of her husband and their daughter Gianna in a helicopter accident last month .
“ My brain refuses to accept that both Kobe and Gigi are gone , ” she said in an Instagram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were here and this nightmare would be over.
” Ezzeldin Bahader , who has signed as a striker with the Egyptian third division club October 6 , is training to play two full , 90-minute matches with the team , which – at the age of 75 – would qualify him as the world ’ s oldest professional football player .
The US morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday .
If you ’ re not already signed up , subscribe now .

Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Sanders and Buttigieg gaining rival frontrunner status
Donald Trump descended on New Hampshire on Monday for a rally designed to rattle his prospective Democratic election rivals, on the eve of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The president also released his $4.8tn 2021 budget plan, which has no chance of passing but could prove an effective campaign tool. Bernie Sanders leads the polls going into Tuesday’s vote, as he and Pete Buttigieg try to cement their places as the party’s rival frontrunners.
Joe Biden. The former US vice president is trying to light a fire under his campaign after disappointment in Iowa but he remains prone to strange digressions on the stump.
Politics blog. Today’s blog is up. You can follow it here.
Amazon takes on Trump over lost ‘war cloud’ contract
Donald Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Jeff Bezos of Amazon at the White House in 2017. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Amazon is seeking a deposition from Trump over its loss of a $10bn US military cloud computing contract that was ultimately awarded to Microsoft. Amazon was considered the frontrunner for the project, and has sued the administration, claiming that the president’s personal bias against the company destroyed its bid. In a court filing, the firm cited a 2018 book which reported that Trump had told Jim Mattis, then defense secretary, to “screw Amazon” out of the contract.
Philippines agreement. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, has announced that he will terminate a longstanding visiting forces agreement between his country and the US, after the US rescinded the visa of one of his close allies.
Brain injuries. The official number of US troops who suffered traumatic brain injury in an Iranian missile strike on their base in Iraq last month has shot up again, this time to 100.
Coronavirus ‘could infect 60% of global population’
Police in protective gear prepare to evacuate a public housing building following the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
As the death toll from the coronavirus passed 1,000 on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist told the Guardian that if the outbreak cannot be brought under control, it could ultimately infect as much as two-thirds of the world’s population. Sarah Boseley, the paper’s health editor, explains how so-called super-spreaders transmit infections such as the coronavirus to far more people than the majority do.
Xi Jinping. Two senior health officials have been sacked in Hubei province, where the outbreak originated, as a prominent intellectual became China’s first major public figure to blame its president, Xi Jinping, for the mismanagement of the crisis.
The eviction epidemic plaguing the US
Tanya Washington facing a lawsuit filed by the city of Atlanta to evict her from her home. Photograph: Ben Rollins/The Guardian
Across the US in 2016 – the most recent annual data available – an estimated 2.3 million people were evicted from their homes. With rents on the rise and affordable housing units fast disappearing, the nation’s legal system remains weighted towards wealthy landlords, rather than vulnerable tenants. Michael Sainato meets some of the victims of America’s eviction crisis in Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina.
Eviction rates. The US cities with the highest incidence of eviction are Memphis, Phoenix and Atlanta, where some predominantly black neighborhoods face eviction rates of 40%.
Cheat sheet
At least two civilians and three military personnel have been killed by a suicide bombing in Kabul, in the first major attack on the Afghan capital for several months.
A boat carrying some 125 Rohingya refugees has capsized in the Bay of Bengal, allegedly while attempting to traffic those on board from Bangladesh to Malaysia. At least 16 people are believed to have drowned in the accident.
The most senior diplomat ever to have defected from North Korea has announced his intention to run for parliament in South Korea, to “give hope” to others who have fled the Pyongyang regime.
Scientists in Canada say they have discovered a new species of dinosaur, closely related to Tyrannosaurus Rex, which they have given the Greek name Thanatotheristes degrootorum, or Reaper of death.
Must-reads
For decades, Tampax has ruled the tampon market. Illustration: Nathalie Lees/The Guardian
Tampon wars: how ‘ethical’ brands are challenging Tampax
Tampax is the undisputed ruler of the tampons world, with a 29% global market share. But a new wave of brands touting themselves as more ethical, more ecological – and more feminist – is challenging its market dominance. Sophie Elmhirst reports.
Australia’s summer of dread
The Australian bushfires have charred an area bigger than Ireland, taken 33 lives and thousands of homes, devastated wildlife and shrouded cities in toxic smoke. As this special report explains, they have also fundamentally altered Australians’ view of the climate emergency.
Who will win Oscars in 2021?
The 2020 awards race is over, which means that the 2021 awards race is about to begin. From Will Smith’s biopic of Richard Williams (father of Venus and Serena) to Ana de Armas playing Marilyn Monroe, Benjamin Lee assesses the early runners and riders.
Mexico’s war on women claims young artist
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre was shot as she cycled home through Juárez last month. An outpouring of rage followed the 25-year-old artist’s death but, amid Mexico’s continuing war on women, her friends and comrades hold out little hope for justice, writes Ed Vulliamy.
Opinion
Market highs and unemployment lows may give the impression that the US economy is thriving under Trump. But to America’s 140 million poor, the economy is his greatest weakness, says the Reverend William Barber.
The question in 2020 is not whether Trump’s most ardent supporters will stand by him, but whether Democrats will embrace an agenda that can inspire poor and marginalized people to engage in a political system that has simply overlooked them for decades.
Sport
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has written publicly for the first time about the death of her husband and their daughter Gianna in a helicopter accident last month. “My brain refuses to accept that both Kobe and Gigi are gone,” she said in an Instagram post. “God I wish they were here and this nightmare would be over.”
Ezzeldin Bahader, who has signed as a striker with the Egyptian third division club October 6, is training to play two full, 90-minute matches with the team, which – at the age of 75 – would qualify him as the world’s oldest professional football player.
Sign up
The US morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.


theguardian--2020-02-11--New Hampshire: hundreds of thousands of Democrats to vote in key primary

Hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters are expected to cast their ballots in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday for the presidential candidate they would like to see take on Donald Trump in November ’ s election .
The primary comes just over a week after the Iowa Democratic caucuses , which ended in chaos over the reporting of the results , and where no clear single victor has been officially declared .
After more than a year of campaigning , hundreds of events and millions of dollars spent , recent polling has shown the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the field , with the former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg only a few points behind .
Meanwhile , after her strong performance at a televised debate on Friday , two polls have found the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar surging to third place .
Klobuchar ’ s ascent in recent Emerson and Suffolk polls shows that the primary contest is still taking shape .
More than a dozen candidates are competing in the Democratic contest , and turnout is expected to be slightly higher than in 2016 .
The New Hampshire secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 292,000 Democrats would come out to vote , compared with about 287,000 Democrats four years ago .
Gardner also predicted about 128,000 Republicans would participate in their party ’ s primary on Tuesday , down from 2016 , when there was a heated presidential primary contest .
Trump does not face any serious opposition in New Hampshire ’ s Republican primary .
Most polls close at 7pm ET , though some will stay open as late as 8pm , and results are expected soon after that .
For days Democratic strategists have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win New Hampshire .
He won the state in 2016 , beating Hillary Clinton .
But it is unclear how the rest of the field will do .
Recent polling has shown the former vice-president Joe Biden , who has long been seen as the frontrunner in the race , falling behind the other top tier presidential candidates .
While campaigning around the state , he has said he is unlikely to win the primary .
Eric Goldman , a veteran Democratic strategist , said the real test in the 2020 Democratic primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with the Nevada caucuses on 22 February and the South Carolina primary on the 29th .
Biden is betting that South Carolina ’ s largely African American electorate will help him win the state .
The former vice-president polls ahead of Sanders and Buttigieg among minority voters .
“ The big question mark that is outstanding and will be outstanding for the next couple of weeks is how any of these candidates do when black people show up to vote , ” Goldman said .
“ The last two nominees on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by how African Americans voted and I think that that is still the remaining question here.
” The New Hampshire Democratic primary is also a make-or-break moment for Senator Elizabeth Warren , said Scott Ferson , a Massachusetts-based Democratic strategist .
Recent polling has shown Warren lagging behind Buttigieg , Sanders , and Klobuchar in the final days before Democrats vote here .
“ If Biden comes in fourth or fifth , he goes into Nevada and South Carolina hobbled .
He could recover ; he ’ s a national candidate .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Ferson said .
“ She ’ s already pulled her ads out of Nevada and South Carolina [ to conserve funds ] .
That ’ s a real problem for her.
” On Monday all of the candidates stressed the importance of doing well in Tuesday ’ s primary to supporters .
The entrepreneur Andrew Yang said New Hampshire was his “ best state ” to have a come-from-behind victory .
Buttigieg has argued throughout his campaign stops that a strong showing in the state would cement his frontrunner status in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , pointed to how her campaign has been exceeding expectations .
“ A lot of people did not think that I was going to make it through the summer or make to the debate stage , ” Klobuchar said during an appearance in Nashua .
“ But I more than made it to the debate stage .
Since that debate , our campaign has been surging.
” There are also some lesser-known names on the ballot who have spent months campaigning , including the Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Colorado senator Michael Bennett @

Daniel Strauss in Manchester, New Hampshire

Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, coming in a close second.
“Let me say that this victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,” Sanders said, hailing his “unprecedented grassroots movement” from coast to coast.
“It is not just about beating Trump it is about transforming this country,” Sanders said, ending his remarks with a nod to the next contests later this month. “It’s on to Nevada. It’s on to South Carolina. It’s on to win the Democratic nomination.”
On Wednesday morning, with 97% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Sanders had taken 25.7% of the vote compared with Buttigieg’s 24.4%. Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar celebrated a surprise surge into third place with 20%.
The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren slumped in fourth with just 9% of the vote, a shade ahead of the now-ailing campaign of former vice-president Joe Biden, who came in fifth with 8.4% support – another disappointing result for the long-favoured frontrunner following last week’s chaotic Iowa caucuses.
Q&A What are the primaries? Show The primaries and caucuses are a series of contests, in all 50 US states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which each party selects its presidential nominee. The goal for presidential candidates is to amass a majority of delegates, whose job it is to choose the nominee at the party’s national convention later in the year. In some states, delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis; other states split their delegates proportionally among top winners. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
The New Hampshire results underscore Sanders’ position as the new frontrunner. The results also call into question the long-term viability of Biden and Warren’s respective campaigns. At the same time, Klobuchar’s third place showing suggests her campaign could outlast some of her better-known rivals.
In his speech to supporters, 38-year-old Buttigieg congratulated Sanders, but then offered a thinly veiled criticism of his 78-year-old competitor, saying voters should not have to choose between “revolution” and the “status quo”.
“Most Americans don’t see where they fit in that polarizing vision,” Buttigieg said.
New Hampshire put an end to some long-shot candidacies. Businessman and political newcomer Andrew Yang had attracted a small but loyal following with his signature policy offering Americans a universal basic income, but said the numbers were not there for him to claim a path to the nomination. He called it “bitterly disappointing”.
Colorado senator Michael Bennet also suspended his campaign on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick dropped out, saying: “The vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign’s back to go on to the next round of voting. So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately.”
Those announcements left just eight candidates in the Democratic primary. None of the remaining major candidates are African American, a stark contrast to the early months of the primary.
Elizabeth Warren answers questions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Monday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
After more than a year of campaigning, hundreds of events and millions of dollars spent, the New Hampshire primary came just over a week after the Iowa caucuses, which ended in chaos over the reporting of the results. No clear single victor has been officially declared.
Speaking to her supporters on Tuesday, Warren said it had been a good night for Sanders and Buttigieg, and congratulated Klobuchar on “showing just how wrong the pundits can be when they count a woman out”.
But she also said that it was still in the race – just “two states in, with 55 states and territories to go” – and once again attempted to cast herself as the candidate who can “unite this party and this country”.
After her strong performance at a televised debate on Friday, Klobuchar surged to third place, after placing fifth in Iowa, where she had devoted the majority of her resources.
“Hello America, my name is Amy Klobuchar and I will beat Donald Trump,” the senator told a crowd of about 400 people in New Hampshire. “My heart is full tonight. While there are still ballots left to count, we have beaten the odds every step of the way.”
Anticipating a lackluster result, Biden headed to South Carolina hours before the results were released.
His campaign is banking on strong support from black voters in South Carolina, which votes at the end of the month. Biden polls ahead of Sanders and Buttigieg among minority voters.
Democratic turnout was better in New Hampshire than Iowa. With 90% of the estimated vote reporting, the vote tally had already surpassed 2016’s 250,983, according to NBC News, and was approaching 2008’s record of 288,672 voters.
Trump’s 2016 win was attributed, in part, to an enthusiasm gap, with some Barack Obama voters staying home instead of voting for Hillary Clinton. After Iowa, fears had mounted that Democratic voters might again be less enthused by their choices, but New Hampshire’s turnout is a source of encouragement.
Trump, who faces no serious challenger for his party’s nomination, easily won the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday night.
One person looming over the Democratic race was fellow candidate and former New York mayor and centrist Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire who decided to completely forgo New Hampshire and all other early primary states to instead invest heavily in the crucial set of Super Tuesday states that vote on 3 March – an unconventional and risky strategy.
Additional reporting by Joan E Greve, Lauren Gambino and Adam Gabbatt