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Come here for America in all its glory - my take on the twist and turns of the presidency, electoral races and life beyond Washington
20:08 UK time, Tuesday, 23 October 2012
There is a frequent, cheesy scene from many a science fiction film that came to my mind after the final presidential debate.
Scientists' attempts to build a life-like robot seem doomed - it is clumsy, clunky, an unconvincing failure. But then, in a time-lapse sequence, it starts looking half-way competent, then impressive, and finally performing much better than a human.
04:53 UK time, Tuesday, 23 October 2012
US President Barack Obama had the best lines, but perhaps Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney had the best night.
Not in the sense that he won the debate - it was a draw if you have to judge these things that way.
00:17 UK time, Tuesday, 23 October 2012
This debate is about that most critical of subjects - America's power and strength, and how it should act to change the world.
Part of the wave of optimism that President Barack Obama rode to power four years ago was the promise that he would end former President George W Bush's wars, and rebuild America's reputation in the world.
05:28 UK time, Monday, 22 October 2012
On the high way into Boca Raton where the final debate is being held, there are a couple of large billboards showing President Obama bowing to a man in full Arab dress.
I couldn't spot who paid for it, but it is of a piece with the Romney campaign allegations that Obama has made America weak in the world.
16:22 UK time, Saturday, 20 October 2012
Mitt Romney has been quick to pick on something the American press has just decided is a story, even though it has been obvious for a long while. President Obama doesn't have a manifesto - and it is not clear what he would do if he wins another term in the White House.
Mitt Romney doesn't have a manifesto either, and there are many questions his plans don't answer (more on this later in the week).
21:45 UK time, Wednesday, 17 October 2012
The passive President Barack Obama of the first debate turned into Brutal Barack for the second confrontation.
It proved to the pundits that Mr Obama is up for the job. The aggression of both men - not just attacking their opponent's position but jostling for the last word, trying to stop the other speaking - will please some supporters.
04:44 UK time, Wednesday, 17 October 2012
The absent warrior has returned. President Barack Obama redeemed himself.
This was a different format to the first debate, and it could have been a different president on stage. Undecided New York voters asked the questions and got strong, clear statements of policy from both candidates.
20:21 UK time, Monday, 15 October 2012
The clash between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in a town hall-style meeting in Long Island could decide the outcome of the election.
Even as I write this, it sounds over-dramatic, putting far too much weight on one event.
17:29 UK time, Saturday, 13 October 2012
The article that set the tone for the week was Andrew Sullivan's full on panic after the presidential debate.
Much mocked as "Captain of Team Freak Out", his piece nevertheless captures the alarm among Obama supporters. Clearly written in the heat of the moment, it is all the better for that, reflecting the febrile infection that is a tight election.
22:04 UK time, Friday, 12 October 2012
Mark added analysis to:
They say generals always fight the last war. Mr Biden's performance was certainly intended to make up for his boss's lacklustre, unresponsive and passive performance last week.
He was strong and aggressive, repeatedly interrupting. The Republicans are portraying that as out of control. That may suggest they know Mr Ryan was on the back foot. The reaction to this debate will be far more partisan than the verdicts on last week's presidential clash because there was no runaway victor.
17:52 UK time, Friday, 12 October 2012
If Joe Biden's reaction was anything to go by, Paul Ryan should give up his day job and become a standup comedian.
Joe chuckled and chortled, silently shook his head with mirth, and laughed out loud.
04:19 UK time, Friday, 12 October 2012
This was a serious, substantive debate between two men who were well briefed and on their game.
It also had a superb moderator, Martha Raddatz, holding the ring between them covering a range of subjects from taxation to Iran, from abortion to Afghanistan.
17:14 UK time, Thursday, 11 October 2012
The vice-presidential debate is often thought of as a sideshow, perhaps like the moment of light entertainment in a circus when the clowns come on between the high wire acts.
But there is no place for custard pies tonight. This one matters.
22:03 UK time, Tuesday, 9 October 2012
The first opinion polls after the big debate have been published, and they make uncomfortable reading for President Obama.
There's no question that a huge majority thought he lost the debate with Mitt Romney, lost it clearly and badly. Let's say it again: it was the biggest defeat in the history of these debates.
21:54 UK time, Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Mark added analysis to:
The first opinion polls after the big debate make uncomfortable reading for President Obama. But polls are only snapshots. What matters is a trend, not a single figure.
Others wonder whether using Big Bird in an ad is a sign of Democratic desperation. That is rather over the top too: it's not chicken to run an internet advert that gets greater exposure because it's funny and the sort of thing people talk and tweet about.
18:20 UK time, Monday, 8 October 2012
Mitt Romney has a stark warning for all of us: Another four years of Obama and the world will "grow darker".
But if he is elected, he will secure America's interests, further its values and prevent conflict. He'll do so, moreover, "wisely, with solemnity, without false pride but also firmly and actively".
15:56 UK time, Saturday, 6 October 2012
There's a central mystery about the president - why this terrific orator, the self-invented narrator of his own life - can turn out such awful performances.
This unconvincing, unenthusiastic, wordy Obama was on display in the debate, as at the Democratic convention.
19:55 UK time, Friday, 5 October 2012
The president had some good news at the end of a bad week
"This morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since I took office."
22:36 UK time, Thursday, 4 October 2012
The first trial is over and the jury's verdict is clear. But the judge's sentence is not.
Conservatives continually accuse the main American media outlets (Fox News excepted) of being in President Obama's corner.
09:16 UK time, Thursday, 4 October 2012
Mark added analysis to:
As theatre, a battle of image and confidence, Mitt Romney was the clear winner. He had obviously practised so hard and so long that he was nearly hoarse. But not quite. Instead his voice was a touch deeper. No bad thing.
He looked Mr Obama in the eyes as he interrupted with animation, overriding the moderator, insisting on a comeback. He didn't seem rude. He did seem in command and to be enjoying the scrap.
Covered British politics from the fall of Thatcher to Blair's last election victory as political correspondent, Newsnight Political editor, BBC Chief Political Correspondent and diarist for This Week.
The BBC's first Europe editor covering the impact of EU laws on people in and beyond the European Union's 27 countries, from illegal immigration to Poland to environmental change in Spain.
Grew up in Surrey, educated at Kent University in Canterbury, worked in commercial radio on Teesside Leeds and London before joining the BBC.
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