An almost-killed Donald Trump, a defected Joe Biden with 107 days left until the election – and a jumped-in Kamala Harris. The election campaign exploded several months earlier than usual this summer, and since then the temperature has only risen.
Trump has talked about using the military against domestic enemies – using a Democrat politician as an example. Harris has called Trump a fascist. Misleading or false information, sometimes with the help of AI that has become central in drawing the picture of various candidates.
No election in American history has been like this, with two such different opponents.
Harris wants to see higher taxes for the rich and big business – Trump wants to cut taxes in a way that mostly benefits the richest. Harris wants a United States open to the world. Donald Trump seems willing to isolate the US more from the same.
They also differ in other ways.
The businessman Trump is convicted of accounting crimes after hush payments to a porn actress and sentenced to damages for defaming a woman he allegedly raped. Trump is also accused of illegally trying to steal an election.
Kamala Harris is… well, it’s actually hard to find comparables.
Still, Trump voters are more enthusiastic than Harris. He appears to be making inroads among young men, including black and Latino men. And voters trust Trump more on the economy and migration. Despite all the scandals and dramatic events during the year, support for Donald Trump has been extremely stable.
Probably not an end
The former prosecutor Harris has switched sides on several issues and is an occasional lousy communicator. Harris’ biggest challenge is that she is seen by many as part of an administration under whose leadership a majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. A sort of post-pandemic hangover that continues to linger.
Donald Trump’s biggest challenge, however, is that an ever-increasing percentage of American women choose him out of favor of Harris.
Both candidates wake up this election day with basically the same chance of winning the election. And the United States wakes up to an election day that is unlikely to mean an end to this year’s drama. There is great concern about violence during and after the election, both among election administrators and the Secret Service, which has warned of the risk of attacks.
But in a few hours, or days, we will still know which direction the US chooses to go. I look forward to the election campaign being over soon.