One week out: Trump, Harris hit the home stretch

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are locked in a tight race just one week out from Election Day.

Trump hosted a rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday night, riffing off the fiery crowd and hitting on a range of topics in his typical style.

“…nine days from now it is hard working patriots like you who are going to save our country,” Trump said. “After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in the history of the U.S.A.”

The same day, Harris spoke at a lively rally of her own in Philadelphia in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

“We are here because we are fighting for a Democracy, and we respect the voices of all people,” Harris said. “And we’ve got a job to do in the next nine days to fight for this Democracy we love.

According to Real Clear Politics’ polling average, which aggregates recent polls, Trump leads by half a point in the state of Pennsylvania, well within the polls margins of error.

In fact, Trump leads in all seven of the closest swing states, albeit very narrowly, according to RealClear.

Trump leads by 1.5 points in Arizona, 2.3 points in Georgia, 0.1 points in Michigan, 0.7 points in Nevada, 0.8 points in North Carolina, and 0.3 in Wisconsin.

Nationally, the two are virtually tied with recent polls showing one or the other with slight leads.

An ABC News Ipsos poll released Sunday has Harris leading Trump, 51%-47%.

A Wall Street Journal poll released last week showed Trump up by three points.

And an Emerson College poll released Sunday has the two candidates tied at 49%.

“With ten days until Election Day, the national poll finds a divided electorate,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “In this poll, independents report breaking for Trump 49% to 46% – a reversal from 2020, where they reported voting for Biden by about ten points.

“Male voters are breaking for Trump by 13 points, 55% to 42%, a larger margin than in 2020, while women break for Harris by ten points, 54% to 44%, underperforming Biden’s support in 2020,” he added.

A few last-minute developments have added to the stakes of an already fast-paced close to this election cycle.

Two ballot boxes were set ablaze on Monday in Oregon and Washington, targeting early votes and drawing national attention and concern about foul play in the election.

And in Pennsylvania, election workers flagged 2,500 voter registrations that were dropped off Monday in Lancaster County that are suspected to be fraudulent. The state’s attorney general is investigating.

With concerns about threats and election integrity on the rise, security has increased at many polling locations.

Joe Rogan, who hosts the most popular podcast in America, released an interview with Trump that has 33 million views on YouTube. Rogan said during the interview that there were talks about Harris coming on the show and that he would be happy to have her, but so far it has not worked out.

While Trump and Harris continue to flit about the swing states fighting for votes, the Emerson poll also found that most voters have already made up their mind.

“When asked when they made up their mind for president, 80% have made up their mind over a month ago, 10% in the past month, 7% in the past week, and 4% have not made up their mind yet,” Emerson said in its report. “Regardless of whom they will vote for, 50% think Trump will win the election and 49% think Harris will win the election.”