Harris and Trump call for voting in key states for next Tuesday’s election
▲ Kamala Harris declared yesterday in Wisconsin that her opponent does not obey democracy.Photo Afp
▲ Donald Trump proselytized in Michigan, part of the seven key states in the elections.Photo Afp
David Brooks and Jim Cason
Correspondents
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, November 2, 2024, p. 18
New York and Washington. The electoral war between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, candidates for the White House, intensifies in the final stretch with accusations of deception, corruption and even hatred of the country of a marxistby continuing an aberrant contest where the objective of each campaign for the last four days of proselytizing is to promote the vote of its bases in a country that is distinguished by its low electoral participation.
Previous elections, like these, were qualified by both contenders of the most consequential in modern historydisputed between Democrats who called to save this democracy from another four years of Donald Trump, an election that culminated in an attempted coup by the Republican, who proclaimed, as now, that he is the only one who could save the country.
That general contest generated the highest participation rate in more than a century – since 1900, with 66 percent of the electorate (population with the right to vote) voting – but a third decided that they did not want to participate in that existential crisis of their country.
In previous processes, when the direction of what they insist on calling a beacon of democracy and the leader indispensable of the free worldonly 60 percent have been convinced to vote (and only 50 out of every 100 in non-presidential legislative elections) since 2004, and just over 50 percent between 1980 and 2000. In research and polls, all kinds of explanations have been discovered. , but the most obvious is that between a third and half of the electorate does not trust this democracy, or believes that their vote is useless and their opinion does not count.
Operation: everyone to the boxes
With the technical tie at the national level and in the five to seven key states that will determine the final result, according to the strategists, whoever manages to encourage their bases the most and convince them to go to the polls will win the presidency. Therefore, the pace of the final tours of both candidates continues to accelerate as their campaigns and thousands of volunteers – from pro-Democratic unionists to anti-Democratic churches and in a constellation of non-governmental organizations dedicated to various issues – make millions of phone calls, They knock on doors, and flood social networks. Their messages are similar, but in opposite directions: your vote depends on the rights sacred to bear arms, the right of women to decide about motherhood, the control of immigration to the future of the planet.
Both candidates are crossing the country between the key states, with Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia among the most visited by the presidential candidates, and this Friday Michigan and Wisconsin. It is notable that the vast majority of demarcations are barely taken, since it is concluded that they are already defined. California and New York receive the candidates, but more for fundraising events and national events since they are mainly Democratic, while Texas and Florida are not destinations either since they are in the Republican column.
The strange electoral system
This is a function of the strange American electoral system where there is no direct vote for president, but rather 50 simultaneous elections are held per state, and each winner of a state takes the number of delegates to what they call the Electoral College. Whoever gets 270 votes in that schoolwins the election, even if he loses the popular vote.
Different meanings of democracy
Harris’s proselytizing argument was repeated in all her events in Wisconsin and in comments with the media that accompany her. There is a real contrast in this race when you look at who is on the side of democracy and democratic principles and who is not.the vice president emphasized yesterday.
“Trump talks about a list of enemies, about using the US military against US citizens…. He speaks in a way that suggests that there must be retribution and severe consequences just because people disagree with him. My point is clear. “I believe in our democracy,” he said.
He repeated that he wants to listen to those who disagree and be president for all Americans. He condemned his opponent’s violent rhetoric against political opponents. And in reference to a very vulnerable flank for Harris regarding the support of Israel by the government of Joe Biden and her, where she continues to face protests by young Jews, Muslims and Arab-Americans, today she was more direct on the subject , but only because of the pressure he is feeling.
I am very proud to have significant support from the Arab-American community, both for my position on what we need to do in Gaza and in the region: end the war and recover the hostages, and my commitment is to a solution of two states.
Meanwhile, his Republican opponent visited the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan, which despite being relatively small, could be decisive in the fight for the key state of Michigan. Although he left everything a bit ambiguous, and has a history of anti-Muslim positions, including pushing for a travel ban from Muslim countries during his presidency, he alluded to gaining more and more support from this community.
The Harris-Biden administration is the most corrupt and dishonest in history. Trump will compose itstated yesterday the magnate, who in his tours reiterated that the greatest threat facing this country is the internal enemy of the radical left and, of course, migrants.
The tycoon who distorts everything
You know, there are those who say that if we don’t win this election we might never have another election in this country.because of These radical left lunatics we’re facingwithout adding that it was he who first expressed that phrase in one of his speeches yesterday in Warren, Michigan.
Kamala’s closing message to the American people is that she hates youTrump declared yesterday. She’s from San Francisco, she’s a Marxist. In return, he said, “my closing message is: ‘I love America (United States).’”
An unexpected representative of Trump who is also participating in events to promote the vote for the Republican, and who was with him yesterday in Warren, is one of the heirs of what was once the Democratic aristocracy, Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. The Kennedy family He has publicly distanced himself from the son of Robert Kennedy and nephew of John Fitzgerald, repudiating his political stance, but the name still has its appeal, and when he gave up his independent campaign for the presidency to endorse it to Trump, Republicans have enjoyed sending him to events throughout various parts of the country including key states such as Wisconsin.
With both candidates warning of an almost apocalyptic future for American democracy if their opponent wins, perhaps everyone is about to lose – a situation that does not necessarily encourage raising the level of voter participation in this race.
