Subtitles: WDR mediagroup GmbH on behalf of WDR
* Musik *
Hi everybody.
The United States of America.
A superpower with an enormous national economy
and one of the strongest armies in the world.
The commander in chief and democratic leader
of the United States is the President.
His official residence is in Washington D.C., the White House.
The White House is the center of political power in the USA.
Here, the American President
welcomes politicians from all over the world
and makes important decisions.
Every four years, the country decides
who will become the next president of the United States.
As a rule, a person is only allowed to be elected president twice
and then never again.
The election itself is like a marathon,
it is long and exhausting.
The Primary Elections or Primaries
take place at the beginning of the election year.
In America, there are basically two major parties
competing for the presidency.
The Republicans, whose party symbol is an elephant,
and the Democrats, whose mascot is a donkey.
The Primaries are where each party decides who will represent them
in the second half of the election campaign,
the actual head to head race for the presidency.
This time more than two dozen candidates
are competing in the Democratic Primaries.
Each of them hopes to be president
and to find a way to stand out from his or her opponents.
Follow me around the campaign trail.
It doesn't take long for a hand full of favourites to emerge.
Pete Buttigieg, who is just 38 years old, is the surprise winner in Iowa.
His biggest rivals on the other hand are all over 70.
Senator Warren.
Senator Bernie Sanders.
And above all Joe Biden.
Familiar to Americans from his time
serving as Vice President under Barack Obama.
On the Republican side the situation is completely different.
Donald Trump doesn't have any serious challenges
within his own party.
His candidacy for a second term of office seems to be a mere formality.
The incumbent president
conducts his campaign from inside the White House.
He tries to score points
based on his successful record as president.
And thus gain support for four more years in office.
Four more years! Four more years!
The system used during the Primaries is quite complicated.
Voters do not vote for a candidate directly but rather indirectly
via so-called delegates.
Who in turn represent the actual candidates.
Also, there are two different ways of voting.
At the Primaries, voters cast their votes secretly on a ballot.
The Caucuses are different.
Here, citizens vote openly.
For example by a show of hands.
First, they gather at a central location,
for instance a school gym or church hall.
And engage in a long, heated debate
on the qualities of the individual candidates.
At both the Primary and the Caucus,
the candidates' goal is to win over the votes of the delegates.
The Caucus, an unusual way of selecting a candidate,
but the Americans are very proud of this tradition.
To them it's an important expression
of the deep roots of democracy in their country.
Decision making on a direct grass-roots level.
Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden.
Each get one delegate.
Nevertheless most Americans cast their votes like this.
Via secret ballot at a polling location.
Anyone 18 or over who is not a convicted criminal
is eligible to vote.
Provided he or she has registered beforehand.
The Primary Elections last six months.
The biggest day during that time is called "Super Tuesday".
A day on which voting takes place in a large number of States.
Many of the candidates withdraw from the race after Super Tuesday.
Only a handful remains for all 51 State Primaries.
The others drop out along the way due to a lack of voters support.
Once the Primaries are over, only two candidates remain.
Those who collected the most delegate votes
in their respective parties.
On the Democratic side former Vice President Joe Biden is victorious.
On Super Tuesday alone he wins ten states,
support for the 78-year old is strong.
We are very much alive.
His victory is assured when his main rival within the party,
Bernie Sanders, concedes in early April.
I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination
will not be successful.
And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign.
Republican support for a second term of office for President Donald Trump
is never really in doubt.
In the course of the Republican Primaries
he emerges as the clear winner.
Many of Trump supporters are firmly convinced that only he can help
protect their freedoms from enemies inside and outside the coutnry.
Four more years! Four more years!
What we're doing here today is showing
that we won't lie down and let our freedoms be taken from us.
Never before during a presidential election
has the country been so divided.
The next stop for these two remaining candidates
is merely a formality:
the nominating conventions.
The convention is where the presidential candidate
and his or her chosen vice-presidential candidate
have their moment in the spotlight.
The conventions greatly affect public perception.
And deliver the same strong message regardless of party:
We have the best presidential team in the country.
Despite the corona pandemic the Republicans
celebrate their chosen candidate at large gatherings.
Their convention is somewhat smaller and more spread out
that in previous years but no less pompous.
What counts to them is the powerful images
and a strong presidential candidate.
My fellow Americans, I profoundly accept this nomination
for President of the United States.
Only now it's official, Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence
try to wind a second term of office.
Things look quite different on the Democratic side.
To conform with corona regulations
their convention is held almost entirely virtually.
They use pre-recorded video clips.
Though as usual prominent advocates express their support.
Good evening everybody.
As you've seen by now this isn't a normal convention.
It's not a normal time.
Biden chooses Kamala Harris as his running mate.
She was one of his opponents in the Primaries.
If elected she would become the first woman
and first non-white vice president.
It sends a clear signal from the Democrats
to the various voter constituencies.
A way of saying, we are the ones you should vote for.
Following the conventions the presidential race heats up.
There are only about three months of campaigning left.
And now, the two remaining candidates
put on their boxing gloves and exchange blows.
Television debates play a decisive role
in determining who will become the next president.
Here, the candidates knowledge of key issues
is not as important as making a strong fighting impression.
The first TV debate quickly turns
into a chaotic exchange of personal insults.
There is nothing presidential about it.
The moderator seems to be in over his head.
Trump's main aim is to belittle his opponent.
He makes unproven allegations.
And interrupts Biden so unmercifully
that at one point the Democratic candidate loses his temper.
Will you shut up, man?
In order to appear superior to his opponent,
Biden often addresses the viewing audience directly.
You can't fix the economy until you fix the covid crisis.
It's hard to imagine 2 more different candidates.
This is also noticeable in the way each of them
deals with the corona pandemic.
The Democrat Biden strictly observes the protective measures.
For him wearing a mask, limiting contacts
and keeping a safe distance from others is a matter of course
even in an election year.
He wants to serve as a role model for millions of Americans.
And also show them the difference between himself and Donald Trump.
Many Trump supporters on the other hand
don't care about keeping a distance.
The only thing that counts for them is a Trump victory on Election Day.
♪ We are all in the fight for our God-given rights.
Keep America one.
Vote Trump 2020. ♪
Election Day itself is in early November
and in the USA is quite unique.
Because the president is not directly elected by the people.
Instead the vote goes through the electors, 538 of them in all.
Representing all Americans.
Ultimately they decide who becomes the next president.
Each state has a fixed number of electors,
depending on its population.
The bigger the population, the more electors a state has.
California tops the list with a total of 55 electors.
Each state is counted separately.
Voting determines which of the 2 candidates
receives that state's electoral votes.
With few exceptions, there is no sharing.
In nearly every state, the winner takes it all.
The race is often determined in the Swing States.
Here neither of the 2 parties has a clear majority.
That makes them especially important to the candidates,
who campaign hard in order to win over voters.
Due to corona voters get a head start this year.
Early voting has never before taken place on such a large scale.
Many voters go to the polls weeks before Election Day.
On Election Day itself voter turnout is greater than anyone expected.
When all is said and done,
roughly 160 million Americans have voted in the election.
Because counting the large number of mail-in ballots takes time,
the race remains suspenseful until the very end.
Moreover president Trump claims the election has been rigged
and challenges the results in a number of states.
It takes weeks until Joe Biden is finally declared the winner.
On Election Day in November whoever has more than half
of the 538 electors at the end is the big winner.
However, the inauguration of the new president
doesn't take place until the following January.
For the next 4 years the White House now becomes the official residence
of the new President of the United States of America.
At the end Biden's Democratic supporters
are both relieved and ecstatic.
All of Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the election
have failed.
No court finds in favour of his complaint.
He has no choice but to leave the White House at the end of his term.
* honking *
However, by now the president has caused millions of Americans
to become distrustful.
They believe his claims of voter fraud.
Republicans speak of a stolen election.
Thousands of them are unwilling to accept it.
Just days before the scheduled inauguration
of the newly elected president, they storm the Capitol building
in Washington, leaving several people dead and many injured.
It's a low point in American history and a sign of a society,
that is torn apart and needs to be mended.
Rarely has a U.S. president taken up residence at the White House,
facing such an enormous task.
Copyright WDR 2021