Lecture & Discussion

»The US after Midterm Elections«

featuring Christian Wernicke, US Correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung

To what extent the American people have agreed with Barack Obama's policies over the last two years will be made known on November 2 when they go to the polls for midterm elections. Since Obama's inauguration in January 2009, this is the first opportunity for American voters to express their opinion. The vote will show how much support Obama has from the public and whether or not the Democrats will remain the majority in Congress.

Christian Wernicke discussed and analysized the outcome of midterm elections one week after the results had been announced. This "mood barometer" exposes how the Senate and Congress will work together over the next two years and what kinds of opportunities it will have. What role does the Tea Party Movement play? What influences will the new configuration have on Obama's political agenda? Christian Wernicke was on hand to answer these and other questions from the audience in the discussion that followed his talk.

Christian Wernicke has worked as the American correspondent for the Süddeutschen Zeitung in Washington, D.C.since 2005. Previously, he was the bureau chief and European correspondent for the Süddeutschen Zeitung in Brussels, where he analyzed the foreign and security policy of the EU and NATO. He is known as the "Turning Point Correspondent“ for the weekly paper, Die Zeit, where he reported from the former DDR and later from the new German states. Christian Wernicke received the Theodor Wolff Award, the national prize for development politics and "Premio Napoli" award from the Europa-Parlament for his article on the European Charter of Rights.

In cooperation with the German-American Society of Münster