In the aftermath of the current president being squeezed out of the ballot and major events such as two assassination attempts against the former president, the U.S. presidential election is reaching its final stage, with the two candidates making their last push in several states on the eve of Election Day.
Vice President Harris will spend the entire Monday (November 4th) in Pennsylvania, a state with 19 electoral votes that is expected to potentially determine the outcome of the Electoral College. She is expected to visit working-class areas including Allentown and hold a late-night rally in Philadelphia, with appearances from Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.
Former President Donald Trump plans to hold four rallies in three states on Monday, starting from Raleigh, North Carolina, moving on to Reading and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and later holding a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Approximately 77 million Americans have already cast their votes early, but both Harris and Trump are still actively seeking more supporters to vote on Tuesday. The results of Election Day will have a historic impact regardless of the outcome.
If victorious, Trump would become the first president in U.S. history to be elected while facing criminal charges, granting him the authority to terminate other federal investigations against him. He would also become the second president in history, after Grover Cleveland in the late 19th century, to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.
Harris is striving to become the first female president to enter the oval office, as well as the first U.S. president of both Black and South Asian descent. Four years ago, she shattered similar records by becoming Vice President under Joe Biden.
In June’s presidential debates, Biden performed poorly, leading to his withdrawal from the race and subsequently elevating Harris to the forefront of the Democratic ticket. This is just one of the tumultuous events in this year’s election campaign.
In July, Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, a gunman at a golf course in Florida was thwarted by Secret Service agents while preparing to assassinate him.
Harris has pledged to bring about a generational transformation. After the Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that abortion services were not a constitutionally guaranteed right, she emphasized her support for abortion rights. Additionally, she frequently highlights Trump’s role in the January 6th Capitol attack, labeling him a threat to democracy and forming an alliance including progressive figures like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Vice President Dick Cheney, even going as far as to describe Trump as a “fascist” in the late stages of the campaign.
Criticism of Trump has been a focal point of Harris’s campaign, but approaching Monday, she has rarely mentioned Trump, focusing on solving issues, seeking consensus, and adopting an optimistic tone, reiterating the “politics of joy” and themes of freedom she advocated for at the start of her campaign.
In a speech at Michigan State University on Sunday evening, Harris stated, “From the beginning, our campaign has not been about opposing something, but supporting something.”
Trump, on the other hand, continues to reiterate his slogans of “Make America Great Again” and “America First,” taking a tough stance on illegal immigration and harshly criticizing Harris and Biden’s border and immigration policies, which are key points of his reelection campaign. He blames the Democratic administration for causing inflation and promises to lead the U.S. economy into a “golden age,” end international conflicts, close the southern border, and combat illegal immigration.
The outcome of this election is likely to hinge on seven key states. Trump won Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2016 but lost them to Biden in 2020. He won North Carolina twice but lost Nevada twice. In 2016, he won Arizona and Georgia, but by 2020, both states had flipped to the Democratic Party.
In recent days, both campaign teams exude confidence. Harris’s team believes in the strength of their campaign infrastructure. Over the weekend, they had over 90,000 volunteers helping voters cast their ballots and knocked on over 3 million doors in battleground states. Trump’s team remains confident that the populist appeal of the former president can transcend racial and ethnic boundaries, attracting young voters and working-class voters.
(Translated and adapted with reference to reports from the Associated Press)