A wild presidential campaign full of stunning twists and turns is culminating with one last day of furious campaigning before Tuesday’s final day of voting. Vice President Kamala Harris is focusing on the crucial battleground of Pennsylvania, making a series of stops across the state before ending the night with a campaign event in Philadelphia that will feature a number of celebrities, including Lady Gaga, The Roots and Oprah Winfrey. Former President Donald Trump held a morning rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, before moving on to events in Reading and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Here’s my only purpose in even being here today: Get out and vote,” Trump told the crowd in Raleigh. He is slated to hold his final campaign rally tonight in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Trump warned he might impose new tariffs on goods from Mexico: At his North Carolina event — The New York Times described it as a 90-minute, grievance-filled speech at an arena with some notably empty rows of seats — Trump said that, if elected, he would issue an ultimatum to Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum. “If they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25% tariff on everything they send into the United States of America,” Trump said. “And it’s only got a 100% chance of working, because if that doesn’t work, I’ll make it 50, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll make it 75 for the tough guys. Then I’ll make it 100…”
Mexico is the top U.S. trading partner, and economists have warned that Trump’s tariff plans would raise costs for U.S. consumers.
The closing advertising messages are very different: “From Ms. Harris and her supporters, those messages cover a mix of kitchen-table issues on the economy and taxes, the fate of legal abortion and the dangers posed by a return of Mr. Trump to the White House,” The New York Times’s Jonathan Weisman reports. “For Mr. Trump and his allies, one message dominates: Defeating Ms. Harris is a matter of life and death. Your death, to be specific.”
The race is once again largely about Trump: “After a summer and early fall of the unexpected and unprecedented, we end this election in a similar place to where we’ve been for the last eight years: with former President Donald Trump once again defining the contours of a presidential election,” Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report wrote on Friday. She added:
“Since 2017, elections have been about a lot of different issues. In 2018, health care, namely a backlash to Republican attempts to roll back the Affordable Care Act, was a key factor in Democrats’ success in that midterm election. In 2020, COVID-19 was a major factor in Trump’s defeat. And, in 2022, the issue of abortion helped Democrats stave off what should have been a terrible election for their party.”
“Yet, in every one of those elections, the shadow of Trump and Trumpism were also important factors in Democrats’ political success — especially in key purple and battleground states.”
Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, suggested to a rally audience in Wisconsin today that this race could signal the end of Trump’s political career. “Just tell yourself how great it is going to be,” Walz said. “We will win and when that thing is done we aren’t ever going to have to see this guy on TV again and listen to him.”
We may or may not know the results by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. In a joint statement issued Monday, the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors said election officials have been planning for tomorrow for four years and are well prepared. “As with any Election Day, it is important to note operational issues may arise: for example, voting locations could open late, there could be lines during busy periods, or an area could lose power. These are inevitable challenges that will arise on Election Day, but election officials have contingency plans for these and other scenarios. Americans can have confidence the election is secure, and the results will be counted accurately.”
They also urged Americans to stay even keeled as they await the election results: “Accurately counting millions of ballots takes time and it is important to be patient.”
