With the US presidential election on November 5th less than two weeks away, Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump are in an all-out battle to secure a last-minute victory in a very close race.
Candidate Harris, who has recently allowed candidate Trump to overtake candidate Trump in approval ratings in several battleground states and is receiving a lukewarm response from traditional Democratic Party supporters such as labor unions and blacks, has requested support from former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who are highly popular among them. Candidate Trump’s side is also pursuing a joint campaign with former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who is highly favored by mainstream Republican and moderate voters. This can be interpreted as an attempt to create one last wish by campaigning with someone who can complement one’s weaknesses.
●Harris sends an “SOS” to the Obamas vs. Trump to Haley
Candidate Harris decided to hold her first joint campaign with former President Obama in Georgia, a key swing state, on the 24th, and with Michelle Michelle in Michigan, another swing state with a high concentration of auto unions, on the 26th. During the 2016 presidential election, Ms. Michelle supported then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who clashed with candidate Trump, and left a deep impression by saying, “When they go low, we go high.” At the Democratic National Convention this August, he encouraged his supporters to participate in voting, saying, “Do something.”
Candidate Harris is currently not receiving as much support from black male voters, the Democratic Party’s core support base, as she did in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The joint campaign with former President Obama, the first black president of the United States, and his wife are also interpreted as a move with this in mind.
Candidate Harris, who celebrated her 60th birthday on the 20th, appeared at a black church in Jonesboro, Georgia and appealed for support from black voters. Famous singer Stevie Wonder appeared and sang a song celebrating his birthday.
According to CNN and another political media outlet, Bulwark, the Trump presidential campaign is discussing a plan for candidate Trump and former Ambassador Haley to jointly participate in a town hall campaign scheduled to be held by conservative media outlet Fox News at the end of this month. Candidate Trump, who has low support from female and highly educated white voters, desperately needs help from former Ambassador Haley, who is highly preferred by them. In addition, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, also toured Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground for the presidential election, on the 19th and 20th to appeal for Trump’s candidacy.
The two candidates also clashed over candidate Harris’ experience working part-time at McDonald’s. Candidate Trump fried potatoes at a McDonald’s store in Feasterville-Trevos, Pennsylvania, on the 20th and took orders at the ‘drive-thru’ window. He claimed, “Harris has never worked at McDonald’s.”
Candidate Harris revealed, “I earned tuition by working part-time at a McDonald’s store while I was in school.” It is interpreted that Candidate Harris has taken a kind of pro-common people move in order to refute criticism of herself as a ‘golden spoon candidate’.
On the same day, candidate Harris refuted candidate Trump’s criticism of her as a ‘shit vice president’ a day earlier. He said that candidate Trump, who downgrades the positions of president and vice president of the United States, “is not qualified to hold public office and will lose the presidential election.”
The New York Times (NYT) diagnosed on the 18th that major battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina all have large urban-rural gaps, so it is impossible to guarantee which of the two candidates will have the advantage. In particular, in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground, the Democratic Party is expected to win only by winning a large number of votes in Philadelphia, the largest city, and the Republican Party in Erie, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre, which have many white workers.
According to the independent predictions of political media outlet The Hill and election website Decision Desk HQ on the 20th, candidate Trump had a 52% chance of winning this presidential election, far ahead of candidate Harris (42%). The Hill diagnosed that this was the first time since the end of August that candidate Trump had surpassed candidate Harris in this survey.
Washington = Correspondent Moon Byeong-ki weappon@donga.com
Reporter Hong Jeong-su hong@donga.com