[🇺🇸] USA Election 2024

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Biden made Trump’s threat to democracy the centerpiece of his now-shelved run for president, warning that his predecessor represents an unprecedented threat to America’s soul. But Harris, while warning of the dangers of Trump, has sought to focus primarily on the generational change she offers.

Her tactics are an acknowledgment that there are many other issues — including high grocery prices, the cost of housing, and the price of childcare — that occupy the minds of voters’ as much as somewhat intangible warnings of democracy on the brink.

In a CNN/SSRS poll in September, about 4 in 10 likely voters said the economy was the most important issue as they choose a candidate. Protecting democracy was second at 21%, immigration was at 12% and abortion was at 11%. Harris’ voters were more likely than others to choose protecting democracy as most important (37%) over the economy (21%).

Therefore, while the scenes on January 6, 2021, were horrifying, four years on they are not the dominant issue.

 

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Democrats lead in September advertising for House races as California and New York dominate​

From CNN's David Wright

Democrats outspent Republicans on advertising by a combined total of more than $31 million across 20 of the most competitive US House races in September, ad data shows, and held the edge in 17 of those contests.

Each of the races drew between about $5 to $10 million in ad spending during the month, with two toss-up contests in Alaska and Pennsylvania topping $10 million, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

 

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The list of 20 races that saw the most ad spending last month stretches across the country, with five states hosting a pair of top contests, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona.

And overall, including races not on the top 20 list, California and New York are dominating the House map – those two states accounted for nearly a quarter of all ad spending in House races in September (24%).

Counting all US House races, California saw more than $30 million worth of ad spending in the month, while New York saw $28.5 million. Pennsylvania ($20 million), Michigan ($17 million) and Arizona ($13 million) were also bombarded with ads.

Across the country, the parties combined for a total of about $245 million spent on advertising for House races in September – including all advertisers, campaigns and outside groups, from both parties – and Democrats led Republicans by about $153 million to $91 million.

 

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Biden says he and Harris are aligned and in constant contact​

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

President Joe Biden, standing with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, speaks during a surprise appearance to take questions during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday.

Susan Walsh/AP


President Joe Biden said he’s “singing from the same song sheet” as Vice President Kamala Harris as his administration deals with multiple crises on the domestic and international levels.

“I’m in constant contact with her,” he said while answering questions in the White House briefing room for the first time as president on Friday. “She’s aware … we’re singing from the same song sheet.”

He told reporters Harris “helped pass all the laws that are being employed now.”

“She was a major player in everything we’ve done, including the passage of legislation which we were told we could never pass,” Biden said. “She’s been, and her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we’re doing.”

Biden also joked that he was getting back into the presidential race

Asked if he wanted to reconsider dropping out of the race, Biden paused and turned around as he was walking out of the room.

“I’m back in!” he said with a smile.

 

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Biden on election outcome: "I'm confident it'll be free and fair; I don't know whether it will be peaceful"​

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 4 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at the podium during the White House news briefing, where he answered a question on the upcoming November election.

A reporter asked Biden: “I’d like to know how you’re feeling about how this election is going. And then also, do you have confidence that it will be a free and fair election and that it will be peaceful?”

Biden responded: “Two separate questions. I’m confident it’ll be free and fair; I don’t know whether it will be peaceful.”

“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous,” he continued.

Biden also referred to a moment during the vice presidential debate this week, when GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance was put on the spot by Democratic running mate Tim Walz during a discussion of the January 6, 2021, insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election.

 

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Harris plans to hit Trump and Vance for not committing to keep funding for auto plants​

From CNN's Aaron Pellish, Eva McKend and Ali Main

An employee installs components on a vehicle at the General Motors Co. Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan, in February 2020.

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris will hit Ohio Sen. JD Vance for refusing to commit to continuing federal support for a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, during her remarks in Flint, Michigan on Friday, a senior campaign official told CNN.

 

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On Wednesday, Vance was asked by reporters at an event whether former president Donald Trump would continue funding a $500 million federal grant approved by the Biden administration for GM’s Lansing Grand River Plant. The grant came as part of funding approved by Biden to incentivize automobile manufacturers to invest in electric vehicles as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed after a tie-breaking vote from Harris.

“The $500 million grant came along with some really ridiculous strings and no protections for American jobs not getting shipped to foreign countries, because a lot– of not just the cars themselves, but the battery components, the minerals, this stuff is all produced in China,” Vance said at an event in Marne, Michigan, on Wednesday.

“And so when we write massive checks on American taxpayer expense to these companies, a lot of times, what we’re doing is selling American middle class jobs to the Communist Chinese, and we ought to be doing exactly the opposite,” he said.

 

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Magic Johnson will speak at Harris event in Flint, Michigan​

From CNN's Aaron Pellish and Eva McKend

Magic Johnson at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in February 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images


NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson will speak at Vice President Kamala Harris’ event in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, organizers at the event told CNN.

Johnson, a native of Lansing, Michigan, has previously endorsed Harris and joined the leadership of multiple outreach coalitions for the Harris campaign, including “Athletes for Harris” and “Business Leaders for Harris.”

 

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Harris highlights labor record at firehouse after firefighters union declines to endorse​

From CNN's Ali Main

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during a campaign event at a fire station in Redford Charter Township, Michigan, on Friday, October 4.

Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters


Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday highlighted her record on labor issues, contrasting it with former President Donald Trump’s, while visiting a fire department near Detroit, just after a major firefighters’ union declined to endorse either candidate.

Harris said the profession is “personal” for her, as her brother-in-law just retired from his firefighter job in California, continuing, “I know what you guys do, and I know your character, I know your families. I know what it means for the whole community, for you all to take on the lives that you have decided to live. And I’m so thankful you guys work long shifts with unpredictable hours, some of the most dangerous conditions.”

The vice president told the firefighters she was “thankful for the union that supports you and your right all that you deserve,” also expressing gratitude to other labor unions represented at the event at the Redford Township Fire Department in Michigan.

 

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The president of the International Association of Firefighters announced on Thursday the group decided not to endorse a presidential candidate this election cycle in an effort to “preserve and strengthen” unity, after previously backing President Joe Biden in 2020.

Harris also commented on the tentative deal reached between dockworkers and management that allowed members of the International Longshoremen’s Association to resume work on Friday after being on strike, calling it “another example of the power of collective bargaining.”

 

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‘Bullet for democracy’: Trump to return to site of rally shooting​

AFP
October 5, 2024

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on during a town hall event at the Crown Complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina on October 4. — AFP
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaMc238IiRov8okfYy3n
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will make a defiant return on Saturday to the small town in Pennsylvania where an assassin tried to shoot him dead during a rally attended by thousands of supporters.

The former president will appear alongside JD Vance, his running mate in the November election, as well as family members of those hurt in the July 13 attack, first responders and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump has repeatedly insisted on returning to the site of the shooting, in which one man was killed and two attendees were wounded before the sniper was shot dead.

“Butler has become quite a famous place — it’s like a monument now,” the Republican candidate said at a recent rally in Milwaukee. Trump’s campaign said “he took a bullet for democracy” in Butler, and that he would speak behind protective glass on his return.

ukee.

 

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The former president was six minutes into a campaign speech in a scorching field and turning his head to look at a chart of immigration statistics, when eight shots rang out. Trump winced and grabbed his ear, ducking down behind his podium as Secret Service agents flooded the open-air stage.

Surrounded by bodyguards and with blood trickling across his face, Trump raised his fist and shouted “fight, fight, fight” to the crowd — providing his campaign with a now iconic image.

“The first thing I said is, ‘How many people are dead?’ Because, you know, we had a massive crowd. As far as the eye could see,” Trump said recently.

In fact, his first words, captured by the stage microphone, were “Let me get my shoes,” corroborated by witness Erin Autenreith, who was sitting in the first row.

There was shock across the political spectrum and President Joe Biden joined a host of world leaders in reaching out to Trump to wish him well.

The shooting prompted calls from all sides to lower the temperature of an overheated campaign — but the pause was short, and tensions simmered.

Though his ear was apparently grazed by one of the bullets fired by Thomas Crooks from an AR-15 type rifle, Trump emerged otherwise unscathed.

The Secret Service — charged with protecting presidents, candidates and foreign dignitaries — came in for withering criticism for failing to secure the building from where the shots were fired, just a few hundred feet away from the stage.

The attempt on the business mogul’s life was the first of a string of dramas that has shaken up the White House race, capped by Biden’s shock withdrawal and replacement by Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate.

Then on September 15, a man was apprehended after being seen at Trump’s Florida golf course wielding a rifle and a GoPro camera in what the FBI said was a second assassination attempt.

 

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Some Trump followers have alleged wild conspiracy theories and, along with Trump, have argued that Democratic rhetoric about the former president being a threat to US democracy was effectively an incitement to violence.

Merchandise sellers at Trump rallies did not skip a beat, creating T-shirts and collectables marking his apparently miraculous escape.

The gunfire at Butler killed rallygoer Corey Comperatore, a fire chief who authorities said died protecting family members. Two other bystanders were hit, suffering injuries.

“We’re going to be there on Saturday. It’s going to be a really big event, and it’s going to be something. We’ll celebrate the life of Corey, I think. And I want to celebrate the two gentlemen that got hit really bad,” Trump said in Milwa

 

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US election polls: Who is ahead - Harris or Trump?​

the Visual Journalism and Data teams
BBC News

BBC
Voters in the US go to the polls on 5 November to elect their next president.

The election was initially a rematch of 2020 but it was upended in July when President Joe Biden ended his campaign and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The big question now is - will America get its first woman president or a second Donald Trump term?

As election day approaches, we'll be keeping track of the polls and seeing what effect the campaign has on the race for the White House.

Harris has been ahead of Trump in the national polling averages since she entered the race at the end of July, as shown in the chart below with the latest figures rounded to the nearest whole number.

The two candidates went head to head in a televised debate in Pennsylvania on 10 September that just over 67 million people tuned in to watch.

 

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You can see those small changes in the poll tracker chart below, with the trend lines showing how the averages have changed and the dots showing the individual poll results for each candidate.

While these national polls are a useful guide as to how popular a candidate is across the country as a whole, they're not necessarily an accurate way to predict the result of the election.

That's because the US uses an electoral college system, in which each state is given a number of votes roughly in line with the size of its population. A total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs, so a candidate needs to hit 270 to win.

There are 50 states in the US but because most of them nearly always vote for the same party, in reality there are just a handful where both candidates stand a chance of winning. These are the places where the election will be won and lost and are known as battleground states or swing states.