Here are the main events that occurred in Polhttps://ourpolitics.net/what-is-politics/itics this week:
1. Republican Party Cements Control Over Competitive States Through Gerrymandering Going Into 2022 Elections
The Republican Party is locking in newly gerrymandered maps for the legislatures in four battleground states that are set to secure the party’s control in the statehouse chambers over the next decade, fortifying the Republicans against even the most sweeping potential Democratic wave elections. In Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia, Republican state lawmakers have either created supermajorities capable of overriding a governor’s veto or whittled down competitive districts so significantly that Republicans’ advantage is virtually impenetrable, leaving voters in narrowly divided states powerless to change the leadership of their legislatures.
2. Negotiations Resume Between Iran, Major World Powers To Revive 2015 Nuclear Agreement
Negotiators in Vienna resumed talks on November 29 over reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, with the US taking part at arm’s length as in previous rounds since the Trump administration pulled out of the accord three years ago. Hopes of quick progress were muted after a hard-line new government in Iran led to a more than five-month hiatus in negotiations. But the European Union official chairing the talks sounded an upbeat note after the first meeting concluded. “I feel positive that we can be doing important things for the next weeks,” EU diplomat Enrique Mora told reporters. All participants showed a willingness to listen to the positions and “sensibilities” of the new Iranian delegation, Mora said. At the same time, Iran’s team made clear it wanted to engage in “serious work” to bring the accord back to life, he said.
3. Voter Enthusiasm For Democratic Party Sharply Declines Ahead of 2022 Midterm Elections
Democrats across the party are raising alarms about sinking support among some of their most loyal voters, warning the Biden Administration and congressional leadership that they are falling short on campaign promises and leaving their base unsatisfied and unmotivated ahead of next year’s midterm elections. President Joe Biden has achieved some major victories, signing a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and moving a nearly $2 trillion social policy and climate change bill through the House. But some in the Democratic Party are warning that many of the voters who put them in control of the federal government last year may see little incentive to return to the polls in the midterms, reigniting a debate over electoral strategy that has been raging within the party since 2016. As the administration focuses on those two bills, a long list of other party priorities, expanding voting rights, enacting criminal justice reform, enshrining abortion rights, raising the federal minimum wage to $15, fixing a broken immigration system, have languished or died in Congress.
4. President Joe Biden Announces New US Coronavirus Strategy Regarding Omicron Variant
President Joe Biden on November 29 said the new Omicron coronavirus variant is “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” as federal health officials brace for the first cases of the new variant to be detected in the US. “Sooner or later we’re going to see cases of this new variant here in the United States. We’ll have to face this new threat just as we face those who have come before it,” Biden said, speaking from the White House. The President noted scientists and officials are learning more every day about the new variant. He said the new travel restrictions his administration put in place, which went into effect on November 29 and restricted travel from several countries in Southern Africa, gives the US more time to respond. Biden said on December 2 he would put forward a “detailed strategy outlining how we’re going to fight Covid this winter. Not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing and more.”
