00:31 UK time, Thursday, 8 November 2012
Barack Obama has been re-elected president of the United States, defeating his Republican rival Mitt Romney. But the last four years have been a rocky ride for him, and a test of his leadership qualities.
It was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico where I first really questioned Obama's political skills.
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17:49 UK time, Wednesday, 7 November 2012
There was one instant when the Chicago crowd realised that four more years was no longer a slogan - that they had won.
I recall a woman at the front of the crowd - it would be insufficient to describe the expression on her face as "joy". Her eyes widened in disbelief that the moment had really come.
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07:48 UK time, Wednesday, 7 November 2012
The evening had been gradually turning into a party in this rather cold aircraft hangar of a hall. But then one TV station after another flashed their predictions that President Barack Obama had won.
They danced, they cheered, they quite literally jumped for joy.
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23:40 UK time, Tuesday, 6 November 2012
At least President Obama had one victory tonight. He played basketball with staff and friends and won the game by 20 points. That's giving his opponents quite a beating. He must be hoping it is an omen.
He's at home now, but later will move across Chicago to a conference centre.
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13:57 UK time, Tuesday, 6 November 2012
At one of the final Obama rallies, Jay-Z belts out one of his hits with a subtle change of lyric - less offensive, more political.
"99 problems but Mitt ain't one."
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02:07 UK time, Monday, 5 November 2012
When Barack Obama was elected, I lived in Belgium.
Something extraordinary happened around the corner from my home. A favourite local cafe hung out a stars and stripes.
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11:36 UK time, Sunday, 4 November 2012
Vast vehicles out of some cyber punk dystopia rip at the earth to uncover the coal below. The clawed beasts, with wheels taller than a person, are driven by weather-beaten men, unshaven, rough and dusty in hard hats and shades. The personification of the white working class.
This is Ohio's coal country, a rich seam of votes for Mitt Romney. He has accused President Barack Obama of waging a "war on coal" by bringing in new rules which make it harder for power stations to burn coal. Mining is not doing well. It lost 9,000 jobs last month, Friday's figures show.
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01:04 UK time, Saturday, 3 November 2012
The hangar-like fairground site was not the most inspiring venue - chilly and bare - but US President Barack Obama has certainly warmed up.
He bounced on to the stage, grinning broadly, grabbing hands and hugging supporters with something like joy.
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12:51 UK time, Friday, 2 November 2012
Remember that butterfly whose wing-beat in the Amazon causes a storm over the Atlantic? I think she is hovering over the election right now.
I don't exactly mean the final days of campaigning are straight out of chaos theory. More that it is impossible to predict what small event might matter massively.
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22:02 UK time, Thursday, 1 November 2012
Michael Bloomberg has come out for Barack Obama. The backing of the mayor of New York City is important for the president.
Mr Bloomberg started out life as a Democrat, ran and won twice as a Republican, then left his party to become an independent in 2007. He didn't back either candidate in 2008.
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23:50 UK time, Wednesday, 31 October 2012
President Obama came to New Jersey, saw the devastation but is now leaving in an attempt to conquer the swing states. It is an intriguing decision.
He's going back on the campaign trail on Thursday and will be keeping at it relentlessly for the next few days. The storm that has killed more than sixty people, destroyed homes and made life a misery for millions, has been a perilous political moment for the president.
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14:56 UK time, Wednesday, 31 October 2012
In a little while, President Barack Obama will stand side by side with the man who has given him what could turn out to be the most important endorsement of his political career.
He will meet up in the devastated state of New Jersey with that state's governor, the blunt-speaking Republican, Chris Christie, whom many wanted to run for the White House.
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18:45 UK time, Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Exactly a week away from election day, and campaigning is on pause.
The candidates themselves, at least, are restraining themselves from overt politicking - but the calculation for each man is very different.
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16:59 UK time, Monday, 29 October 2012
The storm is already pulling politics out of shape, changing the dynamic of the last few days before the election.
The crowd had gathered in the open air, beneath a huge stars-and-stripes and giant white letters reading: Vote Now.
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11:44 UK time, Monday, 29 October 2012
President Obama was in Florida overnight, but he has pulled out of Monday's planned event in the state with former President Bill Clinton.
He's going straight back to the White House to monitor the course of Hurricane Sandy owing to "deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area".
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02:18 UK time, Monday, 29 October 2012
Today President Barack Obama will wheel out his not-so-secret weapon, Big Bill.
But he's only getting one shot. He and Clinton will appear together in Florida. The former president's fact-packed defence of the current leader was the star turn of the Democratic convention and supporters are keen to see the two together.
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11:43 UK time, Sunday, 28 October 2012
The mettle of a president is tested not during a dull routine, but in a crisis. So the Hawaiian tsunami and the very real possibility of a massive storm hitting the east coast of America in the last full week before election day is changing the candidates' calculations.
This is what leadership is about. It may even be a vital test of temperament. Some politicians would be irritated by this interruption to their long-laid plans. Others would gladly seize it with both hands.
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08:07 UK time, Saturday, 27 October 2012
It wasn't exactly the "major" economic speech trailed by the campaign, but Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's speech in Iowa was important.
His demeanour is serious and sober, but the strategy is almost schoolboy cheek. Remember 2008 - hope and change? Mitt Romney says he is now the candidate of change, big change, while President Barack Obama stands for the status quo.
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16:36 UK time, Thursday, 25 October 2012
Four letters in burnished steel are stuck to the sort of bare metal rack that you can see in any warehouse in America.
The sign reads "JOBS". The backdrop to Mitt Romney's first rally in Ohio today is an artful suggestion of stripped-down, industrial virtue, made in the USA.
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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.
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