Election Excitement (USA and Ireland)

Available for over a year

There's been a healthy crop of elections around the world this spring - but as the old saying goes, "all politics is local", and each poll reflects very different concerns. In small-town Texas, Mark Mardell explores how one vintage Republican plans to fend off a Tea Party-backed challenger for his Congressional seat. Ralph Hall could boast of many things: 34 years' experience in the post, being the oldest Congressman ever, having met the famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde in his youth ... and of flipping a mean pancake. But our man finds perhaps his greatest skill is in handling even the trickiest questions from the media. And on the western edge of Europe, on Arranmore Island off the coast of Donegal in Ireland, Niall O'Gallagher asks what's on the minds of voters in the European Parliament election. A ban on salmon fishing here has devastated the local economy - but is Dublin or Brussels to blame? Presenter: Pascale Harter Producer: Polly Hope Photo: U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) looks on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 15 Jan 2013. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)