A-LEVEL students had the opportunity to ask US Consul General James Applegate questions about the general election to help with their education and gain a clearer insight into American politics.
“I do think most voters aren’t sitting down and working out through whose tax policy they prefer there is a sense of identity of who you like better and personality and that drives people into one camp or the other,” this was James Applegate’s response to a question from a Mount Lourdes student who asked, “Do you think the vote is based on personality more than the issues raised?”
He also replied, “Most of the issues the candidates aren’t that far apart on so I do think there is something to that, President Trump came out a month or so ago and said ‘I want to take taxes of tips’ and then Kamala Harris came out three days later and said the same thing so I do think it is personality.”
An Enniskillen Royal student was questioning whether Congress accurately represents America. They said, “Do you feel that Congress accurately represents the population of America in terms of gender, race, and religion?”
The Consul General responded, “I think everybody would agree that increasing diversity in Congress would be a good thing but the problem is that it all comes down to the voters in individual districts and there is no easy way to force it I suppose there are ways as a party but it’s getting better but compared to the level of gender diversity that you saw in Northern Ireland Assembly so I do think there is work to be done there.”
“Could you go into how the US Supreme Court works in terms of which party it leans towards for influence of passing political processes and what its role would be in political processes?” was a question that a student from St. Michael’s.
“The Supreme Court is going to continue to be a factor and probably a very important factor in watching us politics if either its a split government or if the democrats are in control I think there is going to be a lot of fights between the President and the courts if Kamala Harris gets in control possibly less so if Donald Trump gets in,” Mr Applegate responded.
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