With almost two months to the day until a historic election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are working on Wednesday to woo new voters, with a latest poll putting them neck and neck in at least three crucial states.
This classic campaign day was marked by a tragic incident, when a teenager opened fire in a high school in the state of Georgia and killed four people, forcing the candidates to react.
“We must end this epidemic of gun violence in our country, once and for all,” said Kamala Harris. In contrast, opposed to any tougher legislation in this area, her Republican rival called the author of the shootings a “sick and deranged monster.”
A few hours earlier, an opinion poll revealed by CNN confirmed that, as is often the case in the United States, the result of the presidential election will be played out in a very localized way, with a few thousand voters having an oversized influence and millions of others confined to the role of observers.
According to the survey, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania are the three most competitive battlegrounds at this stage of the race. Pennsylvania is seen as the “big prize” that could win.
Donald Trump also went there again on Wednesday, for a “town hall” – public meeting with voters – hosted by Sean Hannity in the capital Harrisburg.
This political commentator from Fox News, classified as conservative and close to the billionaire, often has the favor of the Republican candidate in his televised interventions.
Brewery
Kamala Harris went to the state of New Hampshire for a trip focused on small and medium-sized businesses. In this Democratic-leaning region, she visited a beer brewery founded by two women, in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
The 59-year-old candidate pledged to increase the small business tax credit tenfold, from $5,000 to $50,000.
The one that her rival presents as “communist” intends to reinforce her image as a candidate of the middle and working classes in the face of an adversary accused of pampering the wealthy and multinationals.
After having logically benefited from the momentum following the withdrawal of Joe Biden and the major Democratic convention in Chicago which officially inaugurated her, the vice-president is now faced with the risk of running out of steam.
Several columnists from well-known daily newspapers, who are rather pro-democrats, have in recent days called on her to detail her measures for the country, particularly considering that her highly anticipated interview last Thursday, alongside her running mate Tim Walz, lacked substance.
“The honeymoon period [de Kamala Harris] “has lived,” Donald Trump said on local radio on Wednesday, having himself lost the national lead he had in July.
15% undecided
Also on Wednesday, the issue of the steelmaker US Steel was confirmed as a major issue in this campaign: according to the press, President Joe Biden is preparing to formally block the takeover of the American industrial flagship by its Japanese competitor Nippon Steel.
In a poll published Wednesday by The EconomistKamala Harris garners 47% of the national vote, compared to 45% for Donald Trump.
Many Republicans would like to see the former business tycoon adopt a calmer tone, focusing on criticism of the Biden-Harris administration’s record, but the septuagenarian continues to pile on ad hominem attacks targeting his rival. “She’s a Marxist, she’s going to destroy our country,” he said again Wednesday.
Former congresswoman Liz Cheney, the most famous anti-Trump Republican, said Wednesday that she would vote for Kamala Harris, even if the Grand Old Party remains united behind him.
The CNN poll finds that about 15 percent of voters are still undecided in swing states that could swing to either side. It gives Kamala Harris the win in Wisconsin and Michigan and Donald Trump the win in Arizona.
The Democrat’s visit to New Hampshire on Wednesday, where she has not been for years, will most likely be a unique detour for her, before she begins to plough through the seven key states that will decide the future of the world’s leading power on November 5.
Kamala Harris plans to travel to Pennsylvania, the state where US Steel is based, on Thursday.