AmCham Denmark and the US Embassy’s Commercial Service teamed up for this annual holiday reception at the Hilton Copenhagen Airport, which provided guests with a fascinating insight into the recent US election and its potential implications.

After an initial taste of sparkling wine from Washington State, guests assembled in the hotel’s ballroom for a panel discussion on lessons from the US elections.

To set the scene, TV2 reporter Poul Erik Skammelsen, who is a US political expert, shared his observations about the election and why the election, which may have been the Republicans to lose, became a win for Barack Obama. Skammelsen went on to describe how both changing demographics and innovative campaigning helped the Democrats to win.

Skammelsen then joined an experts panel – which included Søren Pind (MP for Venstre), Torsten Jansen (public affairs executive) and Spencer Oliver (the secretary general of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly) – who all more or less agreed that Mitt Romney had taken the Obama campaign by surprise by moving so far centre and, in fact, attacking Obama from the left in the first debate. On most other issues, the panellists had differing perspectives and opinions, which made for a fascinating and enlightening debate. It was clear that a key issue for the future is how the climate at Congress will evolve, and what the president can do to engage the Republicans.

Finally, all the panellists were asked to consider who the candidates in 2016 might be. While there was no clear consensus regarding the Republicans, everyone seemed to agree that Hillary Clinton would be a formidable candidate for the Democrats – if she wants to …

Following the session, members and partners enjoyed a festive holiday reception featuring great food from the hotel and an American wine tasting courtesy of Copenhagen Wine (Tom Henriksen) and American Wine (Keld Johnsen and the Diplomat).

This event was proof positive that the US is a diverse and dynamic country – in terms of both its politics and its wine.