Harris or Trump, America on the eve of a historic choice

These are the final crucial hours of an incredible campaign for the White House: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump face off on Monday in final campaign rallies, on the eve of a vote with critical stakes for the United States and the rest of the world.

This 2024 American presidential election will see two radically opposed personalities, separated by nearly two decades, pitted against each other.

On one side, the current Democratic vice-president, who in July replaced aging President Joe Biden at short notice. Kamala Harris, 60, could become the first woman to lead the world's leading economic and military power on Tuesday.

On the other, former Republican President Donald Trump, 78, author of a spectacular political comeback after leaving the White House in 2021 in a chaotic context, having survived two impeachment proceedings and having been convicted in court.

Dotted with unimaginable twists and turns, the first of which were two assassination attempts on the septuagenarian, this campaign that is coming to an end has also been marked by all the bidding wars in a fractured country.

– 7 States, until the end –

Each of the two rivals says they are confident of their victory. But, in reality, the competition is so tight that only a few tens of thousands of votes could decide the outcome of the election.

The tension is mainly fueled by Donald Trump, who has begun to question the integrity of the voting operations. Kamala Harris' campaign team said on Monday that they “fully expect” the Republican to declare himself the winner prematurely.

Donald Trump supporters in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024 © AFP – Ed JONES

Seeing it as a “sign of weakness and fear of losing,” Ian Sams, the Democrat's spokesman, warned: “This will not work.”

The most precious votes are to be won in seven clearly identified swing states, which the two contenders for the White House have been crisscrossing non-stop for months, spending hundreds of millions of dollars there.

Of these seven states, the one that offers the most electors is Pennsylvania. The United States, a federal country, has a system of indirect universal suffrage, crowning the candidate who manages to gather a majority of the 538 electors, or at least 270.

It is therefore logically in Pennsylvania that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are throwing their last forces on Monday.

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The vice-president, a former prosecutor and then senator from California, born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, is going in particular to Scranton, Joe Biden's hometown, then to the two main cities of the state, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

– Oprah and Lady Gaga –

For this final stage, she should receive the support of Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, after having obtained that of a host of other stars such as Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez and basketball superstar LeBron James.

Donald Trump held a first meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Tomorrow, it's hard-working patriots like you who will save our country,” he said.

He then heads to Reading and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, before ending his marathon day in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kamala Harris aboard her plane in Romulus, Michigan, before flying to Pennsylvania on October 4, 2024 © POOL – Jacquelyn Martin

So many places where the former real estate mogul will depict a country drifting apart, invaded by millions of illegal criminal immigrants, economically and morally bankrupt under the influence of “enemies within.”

The Republican has recently toughened his rhetoric, using insulting terms to designate his opponent, who in response portrays him as a “fascist” driven by vengeance and his thirst for “unlimited power.”

Met by AFP in Grand Rapids, Ethan Wells, a 19-year-old restaurant employee, confides his enthusiasm at the prospect of attending Donald Trump's last rally.

“When Trump was president, no one messed with America,” he justifies.

Nearly 80 million Americans, including Kamala Harris, have already voted early, out of 244 million electors. Her rival is expected to vote in person on Tuesday near his residence in Florida.

The election generates as much suspense over its result, expected possibly during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, as over the aftermath. Donald Trump has never acknowledged his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, after which his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Both sides have already filed dozens of lawsuits, while two out of three Americans fear an outbreak of violence in the wake of the election.

At least two states, Washington and Nevada, have mobilized National Guard reservists as a precaution. In Georgia, poll workers are equipped with a panic button device to alert authorities in the event of danger.

Elsewhere in the country, some polling stations have planned drone surveillance or snipers on rooftops. In the federal capital Washington, metal barriers are erected around the White House, the Capitol and other sensitive sites.

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