US election: People’s back pockets are pushing them to the polls in this knife-edge state

Published

8 months ago

October 31, 2024

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“It’s the economy, stupid”. It was back in 1992 when political strategist James Carville coined a phrase that feels to me to be wholly apt again right now.

It was by focusing on the state of the economy that Carville helped Bill Clinton beat George H.W. Bush 22 years ago.

For headscratchers today wondering why a man so divisive and with so much baggage as Donald Trump could be within a whisker of the White House, it may be that the answer, again, is: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

In suburban North Carolina it doesn’t take long to realise just how much people’s back pockets are pushing them to the polling booth.

Kannapolis is America’s suburbia. It’s middle class, leafy and the polls suggest it’s on a knife edge now, just as it was four years ago.

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Back in 2020, Donald Trump won this town’s district by just nine votes. With small gains like this across the state, the former president won North Carolina by a whisker – 1.3%.

You need to go back to Obama in 2008 for the last time the Democrats won this state, then by 14,000 votes. Before that Republicans won here every cycle since 1980.

When Biden was the Democratic Party candidate, the state looked like a lost cause for the Democrats. But replacing him with Kamala Harris flipped the polls. Suddenly it was a state in play. She cut Donald Trump’s sizable lead to neck-and-neck and it remained there.

Shifting demographics, a large African-American community, a growing urban and suburban population all give Democratic Party strategists hope that it’s within reach again. With its sizable 16 electoral college votes, a win here really helps propel either candidate to the 270 needed for victory nationally.

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Cabarrus County is precisely the sort of place that the Republicans need to hold and the Democrats need to swing. I’ve come to the town of Kannapolis.

The train station here, linking it with the metropolis of Charlotte 30 minutes away, is doubling as the polling station and the queue to vote early is an hour long.

All who spoke to us were passionate, thoughtful and reflected the national split that runs down to within families.

But of the issues driving the decisions, one thing dominates almost always: the economy. Inflation is now down, unemployment is down. In many ways the US economy is the envy of the world. But the perception of things and nostalgia for the past runs deep.

On one street in this one town, we spoke to a range of voters in three businesses – a local entrepreneur, a waiter, a restaurant manager, a shop owner and a customer. All three businesses we visited were chosen at random and we’ve included every person we spoke to.

Rylee Mullery, babysitting between jobs

“I would say income taxes and the open border is definitely the biggest issue for me personally. And I feel like it’s just gone downhill since then. So I hope that we can get that fixed by getting the right person in office.

“I went to the store the other day and got a full cart. Usually that costs $150 (£116). It was almost $400 (£309) for a full cart of just regular household needs from toilet paper to laundry detergent, paper towels, things like that. So I hope that that can be solved.

“I’m only 23 years old and it’s nice to know that people my age are finally waking up and seeing what’s actually good for our country.”

William Pasquale, waiter

“Right now everything is just too expensive for even basic needs. For families of four it’s too expensive. They can’t afford groceries right now. Some can’t even afford gas and that’s the way people get around. All these unemployment rates are way higher than they were before and it’s just getting worse and worse.”

Deana Ross, restaurant manager

“In the beginning…. nobody wanted to admit that they were liking him [Trump]… because he is a bit rough around the edges… but he knew what he was doing. And I think this time around, now that we’ve had that four year gap without him and they’ve seen what happened, the scales tipped a little.

Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, maybe he wasn’t that bad’. So I feel like everybody’s changing their mind and their opinion about what kind of a president he is, as opposed to what kind of a person he is.

“The Biden administration really dropped the ball for the country and what’s best for our country. And I feel like Donald Trump might try to improve that like he was trying before.”

Dwayne Jackson, popcorn shop owner

“A lot of people are basing their opinion on gimmicks. So if you’re focusing on the gimmicks and you’re not focusing on what the person’s actually saying, then you’re going to go according to the gimmicks.

“If somebody is running around here with 34 felonies, 34 plus felonies, and they’re still allowed to run for the presidency of the United States, where as if I was to go out here and commit one felony and get convicted of one felony, I could never vote again.

“I don’t like, you know, the name calling because you’re not teaching the children anything. When the kids look at this, we teach our children nothing.”

David Deal, local entrepreneur

“The pledge by both sides to scrap tax on tips is a huge issue for us. It saves us as business owners taxes and their payroll portion. And obviously them not being taxed would be fantastic. That would give them a raise and give us a little breathing room as well. Margins are tighter as inflation is pushed, the typical consumer’s daily expenses are up, even exponentially.

“There’s always advantages to both sides. I consider myself fiscally conservative. I’m a small business owner. How business principles and laws are applied mean a lot to me and whether I’m able to put a roof over my head as a business owner.

“But on the flip side a lot of times those [conservative] politics are aligned with certain groups that are less socially liberal. I consider myself fiscally conservative, socially liberal – people should do what makes them happy. A conundrum? Certainly.”

US

US Supreme Court curbs injunctions that blocked Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship plan

Published

30 mins ago

June 27, 2025

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US Supreme Court curbs injunctions that blocked Donald Trump's birthright citizenship plan

Donald Trump’s administration will be allowed to take steps to implement its proposal to end automatic birthright citizenship in the US following a decision by the Supreme Court.

Under the current rules, nearly anyone born on US territory has automatic citizenship rights – commonly known as “birthright citizenship”.

But in January, on his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending that right.

A series of lawsuits followed, with district courts issuing nationwide injunctions aiming to block the order from taking effect.

The Supreme Court on Friday voted 6-3 to allow the Trump administration to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by judges so that they apply only to states, groups and individuals that sued.

This means the birthright citizenship proposal can likely move forward at least in part in the states that challenged it, as well as those that did not.

The US president responded with a post on Truth Social by welcoming the ruling as a “giant win”.

At a news conference at the White House, he said: “In recent months, we’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president… to dictate the law for the entire nation… this was a colossal abuse of power.”

He went on to suggest the current birthright was being abused and had originally been designed for a different era, to give the descendants of slaves the right to citizenship.

“It wasn’t meant for people trying to scam the system and come into the country on a vacation. It was meant for the babies of slaves. Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship,” he said.

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In a wide-ranging news conference, he also said he would consider bombing Iran again if they continued their nuclear programme and expects the country to open itself to international inspections.

He also said he was preparing fresh trade tariffs for several countries and had secured mineral rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is signing a peace deal with Rwanda at the White House to end years of fighting.

Friday’s Supreme Court decision was focused on cases filed in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state.

The policy remains blocked for now in one additional state, New Hampshire, as a result of a separate lawsuit that is not before the Supreme Court.

Mr Trump’s plan has the backing of 21 other states.

Friday’s ruling was decided on a 6-3 vote following a divide on ideological lines, with conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

Mr Trump previously helped shape the makeup of the court with the appointment of three judges, ensuring a 6-3 conservative majority, though past rulings have still not always gone in his favour.

It has long been widely accepted, including by legal scholars on the left and right in the US, that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers automatic citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States.

Mr Trump wants that restricted to only those with at least one parent who is a US citizen or permanent resident.

Friday’s ruling does not examine the legal merits of the policy, but only whether judges had the authority to put it on hold across the entire country.

As a result of the ruling, the proposal can potentially move forward nationwide, although individuals could still file their own lawsuits at the state level.

Those currently challenging the policy could also still reinstate injunctions which are less broad in scope.

The US president and his allies have been harshly critical of judges who have blocked aspects of his agenda, although it is not a new phenomenon for courts to impose nationwide injunctions.

His administration has battled against judges who have issued nationwide injunctions in response to a bold and aggressive use of executive power to implement a controversial agenda, including ramping up deportations, downsizing federal agencies, targeting law firms and universities and firing thousands of federal employees.

US

Man kicks customs dog at Washington Dulles International Airport, say authorities

Published

30 mins ago

June 27, 2025

admin

Man kicks customs dog at Washington Dulles International Airport, say authorities

An Egyptian man has admitted federal charges after kicking a customs dog at a US airport, authorities say.

Hamad Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, pleaded guilty to “harming animals used in law enforcement” during an appearance in the US District Court of eastern Virginia on Wednesday.

Five-year-old male beagle Freddie allegedly detected more than 100lbs (45kg) of undeclared agricultural products in Marie’s luggage after he arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.

When Freddie’s handler started questioning the passenger, he kicked the 25lb (11kg) animal so hard that it was lifted off the ground, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

A veterinarian determined that Freddie suffered contusions to his right rib area as a result of being kicked.

Marie was placed in handcuffs by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who found 55lbs (24.9kg) of beef meat, 44lbs (20kg) of rice, 15lbs (6.8kg) of eggplant, cucumbers and bellpeppers, 2lbs (0.9kg) of corn seeds, and 1lb (0.5kg) of herbs in his luggage, according to authorities.

All agricultural products were seized as they are prohibited, to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the country.

“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over 100lbs of undeclared and prohibited agricultural products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenceless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” said Christine Waugh, the CBP’s director for the area port of Washington DC.

“We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job.

“Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”

Marie was credited with time served after being taken into custody on Tuesday and was ordered to pay the veterinarian’s fee of $840 (£612) for Freddie’s treatment, a court filing shows.

He was also told to immediately report to CBP for removal from the US, and he left the country on a flight to Egypt at 12.30pm local time on Thursday.

US

Man kicks customs dog at Washington Dulles International Airport, say authorities

Published

4 hours ago