US Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris addressed a crowd at The Ellipse, south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024.— AFP
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris pledged on Wednesday to serve "all Americans" if elected president, aiming to mitigate the impact of a controversial remark by President Joe Biden that risked overshadowing her message of unity. "When elected president, I will represent all Americans, including those who do not vote for me," the vice president stated to reporters before heading to a campaign event in North Carolina, one of the seven battleground states crucial to the November 5 election outcome. Her Republican rival, Donald Trump, is also scheduled to hold a rally in the state on the same day.
Harris is devoting the final week of her campaign to assuring voters of her respect for differing opinions and framing former President Trump as a threat to democracy. This commitment, made during a large rally in front of the White House on Tuesday night, was somewhat undermined by Biden, who criticized racist comments made at a Trump rally on Sunday. According to a White House transcript, Biden said: "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's - his - his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable." Trump's campaign interpreted this as Biden referring to Trump supporters as "garbage," while Biden later clarified that he was referring to the language used by a comedian at the rally.
A Tuesday Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated Harris leading Trump 44% to 43% among registered voters nationally, within the margin of error. Other polls show close races in the seven election battleground states. The recent hurricane damage in North Carolina has particularly complicated the prediction of the state's results.
On Wednesday, Harris will be in Raleigh, North Carolina's rapidly growing capital, while Trump will hold a rally in Rocky Mount. Trump won North Carolina by less than 1.5 percentage points in 2020. The last Democrat to win the state was Barack Obama in 2008, although it has had a Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, since 2017. According to a polling average by FiveThirtyEight, Trump currently leads Harris by just one percentage point in the state.
Trump and his supporters have attempted to highlight the potential risk of noncitizen voting to the election, despite private and state reviews consistently showing that illegal voting is extremely rare. This campaign gained traction on Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Virginia's decision to remove 1,600 individuals from its voter rolls, as state officials concluded they might not be citizens, a claim disputed by Biden's administration.
The November 5 election will determine who leads the world's richest and most powerful country. Harris and Trump differ on issues such as support for Ukraine and NATO, abortion rights, taxes, basic democratic principles, and tariffs that could spark trade wars.
Residents in North Carolina, particularly in the rural, storm-ravaged western region, are still recovering from last month's devastating hurricane. The Republican-leaning area accounted for about 9% of the vote in 2020, according to an analysis by Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini. While some state officials, including some Republicans, have commended federal cleanup efforts, Trump has falsely claimed that disaster aid intended for the state was diverted to help immigrants.
Republican Representative Andy Harris suggested last week that the state legislature should preemptively declare Trump the winner of the state's 16 Electoral College votes to avoid "disenfranchised voters." Governor Cooper dismissed this idea. The outcome in North Carolina may not be clear for a week or more after the election, as absentee ballots received on Election Day and those from overseas and military voters can be counted for up to 10 days afterward.
In 2020, media outlets did not call North Carolina for Trump until November 13, 10 days after the election. More than a third of North Carolina's registered voters have already cast their ballots in the 2024 election, according to the state's election board. Later on Wednesday, Harris will travel to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two other election battleground states. Her rally in Madison, Wisconsin, will feature performances from musicians, including the band Mumford & Sons. Trump will also hold a rally in Wisconsin with retired National Football League quarterback Brett Favre.
Source link: https://www.khaleejtimes.com
