How to watch the 2018 US midterm election results live in Krakow

The US Capitol Building
The US Capitol Building

This Tuesday, 6 November are the US midterm elections – between presidential elections, where most of Congress is being contested.

The stakes are high: all 435  seats in the House of representatives are up for grabs, as well as 35 of 100 Senate seats. Currently both houses are controlled by Donald Trump’s Republican Party. If either of them flip control to the Democratic Party, it is likely to at least result in a legislative deadlock and stymie much of the Republican agenda until the 2020 election, which will include the president.

If you want to see this week’s election results come in live, the Krakow-based US Political Action Group is hosting a watch party at Spółdzielnia “Ogniwo” at ul. Paulińska 28. Along with a livestream of coverage, there will also be discussions and context as well as snacks and beverages at the bar.

The event starts at 10 PM local time (due to the time difference with the United States) and go until 2 AM. All are welcome regardless of nationality or political persuasion.

15 thoughts on “How to watch the 2018 US midterm election results live in Krakow

  • November 6, 2018 at 4:54 pm
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    “When America sneezes, the world catches a cold” – i.e. there will be a lot of interest in these results over here in Europe.

    Speaking of results, it’s interesting to see how the Prezes is spinning the recent elections. Calling them a zdecydowane zwyciestwo (a decided victory) for PiS is like the boxer who has just been knocked down telling the referee that actually the man lying on the canvas is the winner.

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    • November 7, 2018 at 10:12 am
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      I’ll leave commenting on the US results for others, but – to pick up on your boxing analogy about Mr Kaczynski – I don’t think he has been floored by the local election results, but he was certainly sent reeling. You’re right when you say that he calls what was definitely a major setback a “decided victory”. Either it’s deliberate spin on his part, or else he is genuinely divorced from reality. Considering he is very likely to have to repair some serious damage to Poland’s image – (yet again!) – this time after the upcoming Independence Day March in Warsaw, then I think the latter is the case.

      I hope I’m wrong about November 11th and that there will be some robust policing, but I’m not holding my breath. The top echelon of PiS seem to be quite unaware of the fact that there are people out in the wide world who are very eager to use any excuse to paint Poland as a nation of incorrigible fascists, just as there are home-grown extremists seemingly all too eager to live up to that particular stereotype.

      As for the march itself, It would be unfair to heap any decisions about it on the authorities in Warsaw, since this is a national celebration and the government ought to be involved.

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      • November 7, 2018 at 1:25 pm
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        I made the point earlier

        http://www.krakowpost.com/19738/2018/10/12-november-2018-polish-national-holiday

        that foreign leaders are not lining up to take part in the Independence Day celebrations. Mr Caputowicz, the Foreign Minister, has just said that no invitations were extended to Western leaders, since they will be holding their own commemorations for the end of WWI. That is a fair comment. But it is not clear if any foreign delegates at all will be present.

        What is even more remarkable, is that the Polish head of state, the president, will himself be away from the capital on the day of the march.

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        • November 7, 2018 at 1:28 pm
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          My apologies. It’s Czaputowicz.

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          • November 7, 2018 at 6:07 pm
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            If ordinary and decent Polish citizens or visiting foreigners are afraid to go out onto the streets of Wroclaw or Warsaw in case they come across ultra-patriots shouting “Death to Enemies of the Fatherland”, then the decision to ban these marches is correct. No-one should have to feel intimidated.

            The government-supporting ‘Gazeta Polska’ calls the decision “scandalous”. There is certainly the question of freedom of expression to be weighed against the public’s right and expectation to feel safe on their own streets. But ‘Gazeta Polska’ might like to ask why exactly the president and others are distancing themselves from the Warsaw march.

            On a uniquely important day in Poland’s history, party politics should be suspended and political point-scoring should be put aside. The day is about honouring all those who contributed to the re-emergence of Poland as an independent state, after over a century of foreign rule.

            The extreme patriots clamoring for a white and Christian Poland need to be reminded that not all the people willing to shed their blood for Poland were either exclusively white or exclusively Christian.

            http://www.krakowpost.com/9756/2015/08/august-in-poland-foreign-fighters-in-the-polish-resistance

            I would recommend that some of these people should visit the Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino, where they will find not only Catholic crosses, but memorials of other faiths.

  • November 8, 2018 at 10:16 am
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    Bizarrely enough, even though the government is taking over the celebrations on the 11th, the influential Father Rydzyk is not happy with the ban in Warsaw, comparing it to the actions of the 18th century partitioners. I’m having trouble following the comparison.

    In other news, a colossal statue of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s late twin brother is due to be unveiled on Saturday in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square. Apparently it is taller than that of Pilsudski himself.

    Looking forward to a happy celebration of Independence Day on the 11th. Perhaps some foreign delegates have been invited? It’s never too late.

    Pozdrawiam.

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  • November 8, 2018 at 3:20 pm
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    Good to see the government taking over the celebrations – even if belatedly. But what are they going to do about a certain promised action in a certain city? The foreign press may not be clued in just yet, but every Polish-speaker can read the warning signs. Forget party politics. If the police are not up to strength, then use the army to separate the marchers from the counter-demonstrators if need be. The good name of Poland is at stake.

    This ends my running commentary, dear friends at the KP. Enjoy your day off on the 12th.

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    • November 8, 2018 at 10:27 pm
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      Sorry. Can’t help adding a final comment. It seems the court has overturned the Warsaw ban on the nationalist-organized march. Does this mean we will see press photos going round the world of the spectacle of masked ultra-patriots with flares in the background, as the president, prime-minister and the party chairman march in the foreground?

      The government has had all this time to organize something reasonably dignified and still there is last-minute chaos. But Poles worldwide are likely to overlook the lack of planning, provided the government controls the celebrations on the day – across Poland – and we avoid the kind of scenes which made world headlines last year. For the sake of national dignity, national pride and to honour the memory of all those who gave their lives for Polish freedom over the years and centuries.

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  • November 9, 2018 at 9:50 am
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    Another day, another comment.

    Re: the statue.

    Judging by the various comments doing the rounds – some amused, some ironic, others exasperated – many people see this as an unwelcome imposition by someone pursuing his own obsession. No-one, it seems, surrounding the prezes, dares to tell him that the statue is very likely to be moved as soon as PiS is voted out.

    When the inevitable happens, then whoever does the removal should spare a thought for Lech and Maria’s daughter, and perhaps find a peaceful spot for the memorial. A location in a Warsaw park would be one idea.

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    • November 9, 2018 at 2:54 pm
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      Dla weteranów Armii Krajowej znak Polski Walczącej jest świętością. Z narażeniem życia malowali go na murach, by w ten sposób sprzeciwić się niemieckiemu okupantowi. Dlatego przed Marszem Niepodległości głoszą osobisty, lecz niezwykle ważny apel. ‘Protestujemy próbom zawłaszczenia tego symbolu nadziei przez środowiska nie mające nic wspólnego z tradycją Polski Walczącej’ – mówią.

      A news item today about Armia Krajowa veterans. It translates as:

      For Armia Krajowa veterans, the sign of Fighting Poland is sacred. Risking their lives, they painted it on walls, in order to show their opposition to the German occupier. Therefore, before the Independence Day March, they are issuing a personal, unusually important appeal. “We protest”, they say, “against the attempts of entities which have nothing to do with the tradition of Fighting Poland, to appropriate this symbol of hope”.

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      • November 9, 2018 at 3:16 pm
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        Credit: Gazeta Wyborcza

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    • November 11, 2018 at 1:15 am
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      I was going to refrain from commenting but I saw the unveiling earlier. The late Lech Kaczynski was described as “the greatest leader since Pilsudski”.

      Why do Poles in Poland forget wartime leader Wladyslaw Sikorski? I can understand that his anti-communism may have disqualified him from any mention during the years of Polska Ludowa, the People’s Republic, but why is he still marginalized? General Sikorski was a man respected by both Churchill and FDR and, whatever his faults and shortcomings, during WWII he was a symbol of hope in Poland’s darkest hours.

      https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/wladyslaw-sikorski

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    • November 9, 2018 at 8:09 pm
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      The comments beneath the video clip reflect how polarised are opinions in Poland right now. So when the cameras look for images, whose will be the face of Poland 2018? The president’s? The prime minister’s? The party chairman’s? The smiling priest’s from Torun? The shouting ex-priest’s from Wroclaw? An anonymous person unaccountably hiding his face in a balaclava even though he is apparently doing nothing illegal? The impassive face of a statue?

      More to follow. Or maybe not.

      Reply

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