Canada and the World, Ep. 14: A US midterm post-mortem

Americans went to the polls November 6 for the country’s midterm election, which many saw as a referendum on the Trump presidency. In the end, Democrats made enough gains to reclaim the House of Representatives and Republicans held onto their majority in the Senate. Was it a disappointment for the Democratic Party or was the change significant enough to alter the course of US politics?

Guests Christopher Sands and Barry Kay joined host Bessma Momani the morning after the midterms to discuss the results, their implications for Trump, for policy — including relations with China, trade and immigration — and for Canada. Will a Democratic House constrain Trump’s behaviour? Will it impact the approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Canadian business interests or climate initiatives?

Our host

Bessma Momani is professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and University of Waterloo and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. She’s also a non-resident senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. and a Fulbright Scholar. She has been non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and a 2015 Fellow at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. She’s a frequent analyst and expert on international affairs in Canadian and global media. 

This week’s guests

Christopher Sands is senior research professor and director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Johns Hopkins University Research Administration. Sands is a non-resident senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an associate member at Chatham House, and an associate of the Chaire Raoul-Dandurand en Affaires stratégiques et diplomatiques de l’Université du Québec à Montréal. 

Barry Kay is an associate professor in the department of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University. He taught at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Windsor before going to Wilfrid Laurier University in 1978. He was a member of the 1984 National Election Study team, and developer of national seat projection based upon electoral data and polls. He has authored or co-authored some 40 academic articles and book chapters, and over 250 newspaper op-ed columns. Since 2004, he has served as an election analyst, and headed the election decision desk for Global Television.

Canada and The World is produced and edited by Matthew Markudis. Each episode can be found on iTunes and other podcast applications.