AFP
The US presidential campaign enters its final day Monday
with a last-minute scramble for votes by Donald Trump and
Joe Biden, drawing to a close an extraordinary race that has put a
pandemic-stricken country on edge.
But while campaigning will halt and voters will have their say
on Tuesday, many questions remain over how soon a result will be
known due to a flood of mail-in ballots and possible legal
challenges.
Those factors, along with an unprecedented convergence of social
justice protests, coronavirus precautions and
President Trump’s fear-mongering campaign, have led to
apprehension over whether unrest could erupt.
Taking no chances, businesses in some cities have boarded up
windows, while across the country the harsh political climate has
led to fierce debate, in some cases even dividing families.
As proof of how much Americans have been galvanized — and
perhaps frightened by the pandemic — a record of more than 93
million people have cast early ballots, including in-person and
mailed votes, according to the nonpartisan US Elections
Project.
As the hours count down on Monday and with polls showing him
behind, Trump will repeat his marathon performance from
the previous day with another set of five rallies in North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Biden will also be in Pennsylvania — including for a drive-in
rally with pop star Lady Gaga — as well as in Cleveland, Ohio.
Seeking to energize Democrats and prevent a 2016-like surprise,
Barack Obama will appear in Georgia before holding an election-eve
rally in Miami.
– ‘Talk of the world’ –
On Sunday, Trump and Biden drove home their closing
arguments — and the president said his supporters would again shock
the world.
In Georgia, wearing his familiar red campaign hat, the
74-year-old Republican said: “It’s going to be the talk of the
world.”
Wrapping up a long day, he held a rally that didn’t begin until
shortly before midnight in Opa-Locka, Florida, a crucial state for
him which polls show is a tossup.
Crowds there chanted “fire Fauci” — referring to the widely
respected government infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, who
has drawn White House anger over his outspokenness on the need to
do more to rein in Covid-19.
“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after
the election,” Trump said in response.
Biden set a very different pace, beginning the day attending
Mass with his wife Jill at a Catholic church near their home in
Wilmington, Delaware.
Afterward, at a drive-in rally in Philadelphia, the 77-year-old
former vice president said: “In two days, we can put an end to a
presidency that has divided this nation.”
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“It’s time to stand up, take back our democracy,” he said.
– Poll warnings –
Nationally, polls have consistently put Biden well ahead, and a
RealClearPolitics average of surveys had him up 7.2 percentage
points Sunday.
But there have been repeated warnings from both camps that the
polls could be wrong — like in 2016.
Trump has held an exhausting string of raucous rallies with
crowds pressed together, many of them without masks.
Biden has held far fewer rallies with much more caution —
usually socially distanced drive-up gatherings — and has taken care
to wear a mask.
That decision has resulted in mockery from Trump, playing
down the dangerousness of the virus even though he was hospitalized
over it.
The former reality show star and real estate mogul has
called for businesses and schools to reopen, talking up signs of an
economic recovery though economists say underlying factors are
tenuous.
Biden has embraced the criticism and doubled down, repeatedly
hammering away at the president’s “almost criminal” handling of the
pandemic, saying it had cost tens of thousands of lives.
The virus has been resurgent across the country, with more than
230,000 dead since the start of the pandemic.
– ‘Steal this election’ –
Fears of tensions on election night and afterward were further
stoked by a report that Trump could declare victory
prematurely.
The Axios news site reported Sunday that Trump has
told confidants he would declare victory Tuesday night if it looks
like he’s ahead.
Trump called it a “false report” but repeated his argument
that “I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long
period of time after the election.”
He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in
ballots are open to fraud, warning of “bedlam” if no clear winner
emerges quickly.
Asked about the report, Biden said: “The president is not going
to steal this election.”
In yet another sign of how tense the race has become, Biden also
denounced the alleged harassment of one of his campaign buses
by Trump supporters on a Texas highway — an incident the
FBI confirmed it was investigating.
Americans have meanwhile been showing up nationwide to cast
early ballots.
“The future of our country is at risk,” said 66-year-old Carmen
Gomez, who wore a mask as she arrived on the last day of early
voting in Florida on Sunday.
-AFP
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