AP: In the final fraught days of a bitterly contested U.S. election, the specter of the coronavirus is omnipresent: Joe Biden is heavily focusing on COVID-19, while Donald Trump breezily promises to “vanquish the virus” but would rather talk about anything else.
Biden said he is “not running on the false promises of being able to end this pandemic by flipping a switch” but will prioritize science if elected. He said Trump’s handling of the pandemic is an “insult” to its victims. The U.S. has seen over 227,000 confirmed virus deaths.
Trump kept up a whirlwind schedule of rallies with supporters focusing on economic growth and other achievements he claims for his first four years.
Today on the campaign trail, Trump and Biden will be chasing last-minute votes in Florida, a state all but essential to the Republican’s pathway to another term, Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Tamara Lush report.
The candidates will appear in Tampa hours apart, visiting an area known for its rapid residential growth and status as an ever-changing, hard-fought battleground during presidential elections.
Both nominees are focusing on encouraging voters to turn out on polling day. More than 73 million Americans have already voted, either by absentee or by mail.
Trump Apocalypse: The president is painting an apocalyptic portrait of American life if Biden gets elected. Trump claims that if the Democrat takes over, the suburbs wouldn’t be the suburbs anymore, the economy would slump into its worst depression ever and police departments would cease to exist. Even the elderly would be left to manage without heat or air conditioning, he claims. Campaign rhetoric often becomes heated and hyperbolic as candidates scrap for every last advantage. Experts say instilling fear in one’s opponent is usually the primary motivating factor behind it, Darlene Superville reports.
Get the Vote Out: In the best of times, it’s a massive logistical challenge to get millions out to vote. In 2020, the difficulty has been dramatically compounded: by fear of the virus, by confusion over mail-in ballots, by palpable anxiety over the bitter divisions in the country. As early voting has surged dramatically, advocates have been mobilizing in myriad ways, from volunteer letter-writers to block associations to national movements, from college marching bands to lone violinists, from fleets of minivans to bicycle parades to horseback rides to the polls in Indian Country, Jocelyn Noveck and Claire Galofaro report.
Outstanding Ballots: Millions of mail ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states just days before the election. That's according to data collected by the AP. Officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Tuesday November.3. AP research shows that at least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday. But millions more remain outstanding in Pennsylvania, Florida and other states, Christina A. Cassidy reports.
Lawsuits: The nation is careening toward Election Day in what is believed to be the most litigated race in American history. Even seemingly mundane issues like where poll watchers can stand are turning into legal disputes. Lawsuits by the hundreds already have been filed as both Democrats and Republicans try to settle in court a process that is usually determined by citizens simply casting ballots, Alana Durkin Richer reports.
Florida Battleground County: Republicans and Democrats have invested heavily in wooing voters in Jacksonville, one of Florida's largest metropolitan areas. Barack Obama twice lost Duval County and Hillary Clinton did too. But when a Democratic gubernatorial candidate won the county two years ago, it energized Democrats hoping to make political strides in a place emerging from its Confederate heritage to become a battleground within the Florida battleground, Bobby Caina Calvan reports.
Iran Analysis: Top officials in the Islamic Republic may say the U.S. election doesn’t matter, but nearly everyone else there seems to be holding their breath. The race for the White House could mean another four years of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of crippling sanctions. Or it could bring Biden, who has raised the possibility of the U.S. returning to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Jon Gambrell reports from Dubai.
Immigration Asylum: Trump’s vast reshaping of U.S. immigration policy may be most widely felt in his undoing of asylum. With immigration laws temporarily suspended at the border during the pandemic, people who enter the U.S. illegally are immediately expelled without even a piece of paper, generally with no chance to plead for protection from persecution. Facing no consequences, migrants coming from Mexico and Central America are more determined to keep trying until they succeed.
