The Albany Gazette - US election rivals race to photo finish

Over 75 million people have cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday's climax and the race is down to the wire -- with more states functionally tied in polls at this point than in any comparable election.

The closeness of the race is all the more remarkable given its dramatic twists -- including an assassination bid and Harris's stunning late entrance -- and the fact that the candidates could hardly be further apart in their campaign styles and visions for the future.

A final New York Times/Siena poll on Sunday flagged some incremental changes in the key battleground states, but the results from all seven remained firmly within the margin of error.

Harris -- desperate to shore up the Great Lakes states seen as essential to any Democratic ticket -- was to spend the day in Michigan, beginning in Detroit before a stop in Pontiac and an evening rally at Michigan State University.

Trump's Sunday timetable centers on Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, the three biggest prizes in the "Electoral College" system that awards states influence according to their population.

The 78-year-old has been scrambling to distract from the now week-long scandal around his rally at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden in which warm-up speakers alienated Hispanics and women with racist and sexist language.

Trump surrogates winced at the unforced error, which looked especially unprofessional when contrasted with Harris's address to a massive, jubilant crowd in Washington, with the White House providing the backdrop.

None of Trump's Sunday events take place in areas with large Hispanic populations but Pennsylvania is the swing state with the most Puerto Ricans, a community particularly angered by the bigotry at Trump's rally.

- Final polls -

Michigan is one of the seven closely watched battlegrounds.

Trump flipped the state, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden returned it to the Democratic column in 2020, buoyed by unionized workers and a large Black community.

But this time, Harris risks losing the support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Pollsters have noted an erosion in Black support for the Democratic ticket and Harris's aides acknowledge that they still have work to do to turn out enough African American men to match Biden's winning coalition in 2020.

But with reproductive rights emerging as a top voter concern, her campaign has taken some comfort from the large proportion of women turning out among the early voters.

In a bid to reach out beyond her traditional support bases, Harris wrapped a day on the campaign trail Saturday with a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live," mocking her presidential election rival Donald Trump on the iconic sketch show.

"Keep Kamala and carry on-ala!" the vice president said in a well-received appearance alongside Maya Rudolph, the comedian who has been playing her as "America's fun aunt" on the show.

Keen on as much TV exposure as possible, the Harris campaign has booked a two-minute spot to air during Sunday's NFL football games, including the matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, both from crucial swing states.

In the ad, Harris pledges to be "a president for all Americans" and promises to "build a brighter future for our nation."

Her campaign said its own research shows the "last week has proven decisive in cementing the choice in this election with both undecided and lower-propensity voters," particularly the contrast of two candidates' closing argument rallies.

Harris, 60, got a boost Saturday as the final Des Moines Register poll before Election Day -- seen as a highly credible test of wider public sentiment -- showed a stunning turnaround, with Harris ahead in a state won easily by Trump in 2016 and 2020.

She leads by three points in a poll that showed her trailing Trump by four points in September.

(P.Clark--TAG)