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“Blue wave” meets “red wall” in US mid-term election

Panelists discuss future of US political parties, implications for transatlantic relations and what’s in store for 2020

A “blue wave” has now met a “red wall” – this is how Nelson Cunningham, former advisor to President Bill Clinton and co-founder of political consultancy McLarty Associates, described the election results to an audience of 130 at a 2018 US election post-mortem at the Hertie School on 7 November.

Cunningham, alongside Sudha David-Wilp, Senior Transatlantic Fellow and Deputy Director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund; Peter Beyer, member of the German Bundestag and Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office; Mark Hallerberg, Dean of Research and Faculty and Professor of Public Management and Political Economy at the Hertie School; and Andrea Römmele, Dean of Executive Education and Professor for Communication in Politics and Civil Society, discussed the outcome of the election in a panel moderated by Anna Sauerbrey, journalist at Der Tagesspiegel.

Cunningham said he could see President Donald Trump reaching out to the Democrats, who now control the House of Representatives, for deals on infrastructure legislation, middle class tax cuts or international trade. But for transatlantic relations, Peter Beyer said he thinks dialogue with the US will become even more difficult, even though there is no alternative partner in the world for Europe – culturally, economically and in terms of security. Sudha David-Wilp says she’s optimistic about US politics over the next two years in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, especially as women, minorities and other Americans have shown their interest in political engagement. Listen to the full discussion on our podcast.