Wednesday briefing: Americans vote on Super Tuesday
What’s at stake on Super Tuesday?
Millions of voters in fifteen states cast their ballots on Super Tuesday, one of the most important dates on the American political calendar.
It’s the day in the presidential primaries when most states vote, and it will push the race closer to a White House rematch in November between President Biden and Donald Trump. It will almost certainly also be a blow to Nikki Haley, Trump’s Republican challenger.
The results will appear soon after we send this newsletter. Here’s the latest.
Trump is trying to ban Haley from the race. Recent polls in Texas and California – the states that will award the most delegates on Tuesday – show him with a wide lead.
For Biden, who has no major opponents, observers are watching the turnout and popularity of the “unpledged” voting option as a protest vote in states like Minnesota.
While it is difficult to make reliable predictions about the general election based on the primaries, my colleague Maggie Astor, who covers the primaries, said the election would give us clues about the months ahead.
“Aspects of the Super Tuesday results – including how close Nikki Haley gets to Trump, how many people cast protest votes against Biden and how high the turnout is – could provide some indications of how united and enthusiastic the Democratic and Republican parties are,” says she. said.
Background: The US primary system can be difficult to understand, even for Americans. It is not a direct vote. Instead, states reward delegates — people who will vote for the party’s candidate during the summer conventions — based on primary results. For example, to be the Republican nominee this year, a candidate must win a majority of the 2,429 delegates. By the time Super Tuesday is over, 1,151 of the total will have been allocated.
Do Americans Have ‘Collective Amnesia’? It’s only been three years, but memories of Trump’s presidency have faded and changed rapidly.
Can China achieve its growth target?
China’s top leaders have announced an ambitious economic growth target of around 5 percent this year. It will be difficult for them to make it happen.
China’s economy is being battered by a real estate crisis, loss of consumer confidence and financial pressure from indebted local governments. But Beijing has announced no major spending increases to help the local government, nor measures to revive the real estate market, nor measures to boost consumer confidence. With little action from leaders, economists and investors are skeptical.
“It is not surprisingly an unrealistic set of targets,” said a Chinese researcher.
But there is money for the army: Leaders plan to increase spending by 7.2 percent in 2024 to about $231 billion. (That’s the same percentage increase as last year, continuing a decades-long expansion.) China also plans to increase spending on science and technology research by 10 percent.
Russia has intensified its air campaign
The war in Ukraine has been largely fought on the ground for the past two years, but as the Russian military continues its attacks in the east, the air force has taken on a bigger role. Military analysts say Russia has increasingly deployed fighter jets near the front lines to drop powerful guided bombs on Ukrainian positions and clear a path forward for infantry.
The strategy has helped Russia make gains in eastern Ukraine, but has also given Kiev’s military more opportunities to shoot down their planes.
THE LAST NEWS
The Middle East
China and India are flooding the Maldives with construction projects. Their efforts — part of a broader battle for influence across South Asia — are shaking the newborn democracy as its politicians try to navigate between the two world powers.
Lives lived: Juli Lynne Charlot created the poodle skirt, which became popular in the 1950s. She died at the age of 101.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Yamamoto wins the Pritzker Prize
Riken Yamamoto, a Japanese architect, creates understated buildings intended to encourage social connection and transparency. He has just won the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest award.
He designed family homes without exterior walls, public buildings made of transparent glass connected by terraces, and a fire station where passers-by can watch firefighters training.
The Pritzker jury said his designs “enabled people to shape their own lives within his buildings with elegance, normality, poetry and joy.”