Ahead of next week’s midterm elections in the United States, the Trump administration is unpopular and the polls are bad. The Republicans are expected to lose control of the House of Representatives and could forfeit the Senate, as well.

Eyes everywhere are on these elections, not just for the outcome itself but especially for how President Donald Trump, whose unpredictability has shaken the world over the past two years, might react to the results.

Joe Hockey, who joins us on the podcast, is former Australian ambassador to Washington, and former treasurer in the Abbott government. He is now based in Washington with Bondi Partners, an advisory and investment firm he co-founded. He has been a close observer of both the first and second Trump administrations.

On present polling, Hockey says the Republicans are headed for a “shellacking” in the House, with a “very real chance” of losing the Senate, too.

In a non-compulsory voting system, there’s usually low turnout in midterm elections. In this election, “the Republicans are competing with the couch – people who just stay at home”.

Bearing in mind that people that want Donald Trump to remain president don’t have to vote. He’ll be president on the fourth of January after the new Congress takes its place. So if they want to send him a message in this election, one way to do it would be simply not to turn up to vote, which is the biggest threat to the Republicans in........

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