Democracy's Heartbeat: Election Day in Philadelphia | International Eyes on America's Choice

A gripping street-level view of America's most consequential election yet, as European-American duo Claudia Koestler and Dan Harris take you through the pulsing streets of downtown Philadelphia. Watch as these international commentators decode the electric atmosphere, share candid voter conversations, and offer unique insights into this historic showdown between Harris and Trump. From early morning lines to evening tension, experience the raw energy of democracy in action through fresh, non-American perspectives. See why Philly could once again determine America's future.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Election Day Atmosphere in Philadelphia
• 3:03 Voter Sentiment and Predictions
• 5:53 Young Voters and Their Priorities

Transcript

Dan Harris (00:00)
Now the former US President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. He served one term in office from 1977 to 1981 and is the longest lived American leader. Mr Carter achieved great diplomatic success in the Middle East but was hampered at home by a failing economy. In later life he forged a career as an international statesman winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Our North America editor Sarah Smith looks back at his long life. Jimmy Carter made the leap from the governor's mansion in Georgia to the White House, pitching himself as an honest outsider, a fresh face for an office still tainted by the scars of Watergate. The first US president to embrace environmental policies, he also brokered the landmark Camp David peace accord, which saw Egypt accepting the existence of Israel for the first time. But a protracted hostage crisis in Iran.

coupled with spiralling inflation and rising unemployment at home, sealed his fate as a one term president. He established the Carter Center as a base for promoting democracy and human rights around the world. And 22 years after leaving office, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. President Biden said America and the world had lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. Sikhiastama said President Carter redefined the post presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the world had lost a

great mediator for peace in the Middle East. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described Carter's legacy as one of compassion, kindness, empathy and hard work. Let's talk to Dan Harris, Dan's from Charlton Kings. worked on Capitol Hill and at the White House in the Reagan era. And he's the host of the International podcast over here, over there. Dan, morning to you. mean, the tributes, as you would expect, have poured in for Jimmy Carter and so many people putting politics to one side for a man who only served four years in the White House. What an extraordinary legacy he leaves behind. 
Dan Harris
Yes, he does. does. He had a really mixed bag of which we'll look back at in his career, his four years in office, as we heard from Sarah Smith there/ He really had successes and failures. But then he really, after, after his presidency, it was almost like a second presidency in a way.

He really turned out to be a world statesman and contributed to a great deal of public good around the world, not just in the United States. So when you look at him, you can look at him in different ways. He was a very ethical, you know, president or politician if you want to put it that way. He famously said after Watergate, I will never lie to you. And whether you can believe that from a politician or not, well, he said it out there, boldly said it out there. He was incredibly honest and frank, but also he said to the American people things that in a sense they really didn't want to hear, especially during the energy crisis of how we had to tighten our belts and conserve energy. there's a malaise going across the country and a crisis of confidence. So a lot of it pointed right back at him. And that's really what did it for him. They thought he could do the job anymore and he lost in a landslide in 1980 to Ronald Reagan but certainly, his stature grew immensely after he left the White House.

David Smith
I remember when I did my American politics A level my my American politics teacher said that Jimmy Carter was a micromanager you know he wanted to be involved in anything even down to the rotor of the White House tennis court you know who would get to play on the court at any one particular time and and that perhaps did for him as much as circumstance and the economy as it always does for American presidents. That was why he was only a one-term president. And it's fair to say most American presidents, with some notable exceptions like the first George Bush and others, most American presidents serve two terms. They normally get elected to two terms. It's hard to work it out, I'm sure, Dan, but would he have had the legacy he had if he'd been a two-term president? In a sense, what I'm saying is that because he was a one-term president and he only served four years. Do we get the sense that he went out of the White House thinking my work here isn't done, I have unfinished business? 

Dan Harris
Yeah, unfulfilled, unfulfilled really. I mean, he was ahead of his time. He talked about energy conservation, energy independence, and human rights, and made human rights a center of his foreign policy. So he had a lot of really good initiatives, but the economy, 'it's all about the economy, stupid' really when it comes down to it. And the economy was terrible. We had interest rates at 20 % in 1979 under the federal chairman, Paul Volcker, and the Federal Reserve and inflation was at 13.5%. It continued through into inflation, uh, continued under Reagan at 10 and a half percent as well. But it really, that was a shock to us. That was a shock to the US and to the world economy.

And of coursem, when he's president, he owns it. So he's got he had to deal with it. And you're right. He was a micromanager and he would read everything. He had a photographic memory and speed read. He would read all the documents, but it's like seeing the force through the trees. He missed the bigger picture in some cases as far as his presidency goes. But he did have some notable successes, especially the Camp David Accords. He founded the Department of Energy. Again, he put human rights front and center, especially where it needed badly in Latin America, where some really repressive regimes were there. And so if you put it in context, Watergate, that happened, the lack of trust in government, and Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon afterward, that really boosted him, ushered him into the White House. And then you know, these difficulties with foreign affairs with the Iran hostage crisis and the energy crisis worldwide, it just doomed his presidency. So, looking back on it, it really was after his presidency that his stature really rose and recovered dramatically. That's the thing. Yeah. It's his post-presidency that did it the 40 years after he was the president of the United States that really did it. 

David Smith
I'm struck by his humility. heard a story last night. Wherever a president travels or a former president travels certainly the current president wherever former president travels the security detail goes with him you and I know that as well as anybody we went to see President Obama speak in Philadelphia eight or nine weeks ago and this security was ridiculous but you would expect it but everywhere Jimmy Carter went even up till you know till his sad death yesterday the security bubble was tight and he knew that and he appreciated it so when he got on a plane to go anywhere the Secret Service would get on with him and he used to walk

the aisle of the plane and shake everybody's hand on that plane no matter where he was going because he knew that having him on the plane was a bit of a nuisance and a bit of an annoyance for a lot of people given the extra rigmarole they had to go through security-wise. His humbleness, his humility, and I think was a lesson for all politicians down the years. And he took that into his post-presidential work, he? He did. He did. And, you know, he built houses around the world with various initiatives.

He tackled disease and poverty. One of the key deliverables that he did after his presidency was the Carter Center, which focused on human rights, and peace negotiations. He was involved with many peace negotiations over the last 40 years. So he did a lot. He did a lot. And going back to his humbleness, just a little anecdote was he lived in a house that was valued. at $167,000 for most of his life after the presidency with his wife Rosalind. The Secret Service cars were more expensive than his house. So this is how humble it is. his house, obviously well below the national average. I think it was a two or three-bedroom house. So that's the size of the man really. Yeah, absolutely. Dan, always good to talk to you. Thank you very much indeed. Dan Harris from Charlton Kings worked on Capitol Hill and at the White House in the Reagan era and hosts the international podcasts 'Over Here, Over There'.