Harris in Georgia with Obama and the Boss, Trump in Arizona

Kamala Harris, determined to dramatize the stakes of the election in the final straight, will be surrounded on Thursday in Georgia by Barack Obama and the singer Bruce Springsteen, for her return to this key state in the south-east of the United States.

Faced with Donald Trump, whom she publicly called a “fascist” on Wednesday, the vice president has decided to bet everything on defending democracy before November 5, at a time when no poll has managed to separate the Democratic candidate from the former Republican president.

Her rival is heading to the southwest, to Arizona, another state that will be decisive in this election being watched by the entire world.

The two candidates are focusing their efforts on the seven “swing states”, in which neither has managed to widen the gap beyond the margin of error: Georgia and Arizona, therefore, but also Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Kamala Harris has not been able to count on the excitement of her surprise campaign debut in July for long, after President Joe Biden withdrew, and facing a Donald Trump whose base remains unfailingly loyal.

She is banking on a political star and a music star on Thursday to regain momentum, in a contested state where nearly a third of voters have already cast early ballots.

– “Absolute power” –

The 60-year-old Democratic candidate will be on stage for the first time with former President Barack Obama, who has already worked solo several times for the woman who could become the first black woman president.

On Tuesday in Detroit, he had portrayed Donald Trump as a danger to the very cohesion of the country: “One of the most disturbing things about this election, about Trump's trajectory in politics, is that many of us, including good people, people we know, suddenly seem ready to give up our values.”

Donald Trump in Duluth, Georgia, October 23, 2024 © AFP – CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA

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Kamala Harris is also trying to dramatize the stakes of the election, facing a rival who has never acknowledged his defeat in 2020 and who has not committed to recognizing the outcome of the next election if it is unfavorable to him.

On Wednesday, she accused him of seeking “absolute power,” and her team is promising a solemn “indictment” of Donald Trump in Washington next Tuesday, at the place where the former president harangued his supporters just before they attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

On a more festive note, before an election that America and the world are waiting for with bated breath, Bruce Springsteen will give his voice Thursday for the Democratic candidate.

– “Real moron” –

Barack Obama's commitment has Donald Trump bristling, often ridiculed by this charismatic speaker.

“He's a real moron,” the Republican said this week.

Donald Trump, who will be the oldest president to take the oath of office if elected, continues his frenetic pace of campaign rallies across the country.

Former US President Barack Obama at a rally in support of Kamala Harris in Tucson, Arizona, on October 18, 2024 © AFP – Rebecca NOBLE

The 78-year-old candidate will be in Arizona early this afternoon, where he is supposed to talk about the housing crisis, although the Republican has been known to abandon his teleprompter for more impromptu, or even downright rambling, remarks.

He is then due to fly to Las Vegas, where he is due to address an association of ultraconservative youth in the early evening.

Hordes of supporters in red caps continue to flock to his campaign rallies, firmly convinced that their champion – who was convicted in criminal court in late May and targeted by two assassination attempts – is the victim of a vast political persecution operation.

They come to listen to an increasingly aggressive rhetoric, made up of personal attacks on Kamala Harris and threats against migrants or the “enemy within” – a vague category in which the former president groups all his political opponents.

During his events Donald Trump also indulges in imitations of foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron. In an interview on Thursday, the Republican, who has been rude to his allies during his term, also compared the EU to a “mini China” in terms of trade, because of the lack of opportunities, according to him, for American products on the European market.

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