US election: Barack Obama to join Joe Biden in last attempt to sway the undecided
Joe Biden will be joined by Barack Obama, the former president whom he served as vice president for eight years, for joint speeches on Saturday in a campaign first.
The Democratic presidential nominee will appear together with his old boss at an event in Flint, Michigan, where the audience will be in cars at a so-called “drive-in" rally.
The united front from the two men who shared the White House for eight years comes as they seek to boost turnout among supporters and woo the few remaining undecided voters before Tuesday's election.
Donald Trump will counter the event on Saturday with no fewer than four rallies in Pennsylvania, one of the most critical swing states that could determine the outcome.
"Donald Trump has given up," Mr Biden told a crowd of honking cars gathered at Iowa State Fairgrounds on Friday. "Unlike Donald Trump, we will not surrender to the virus.”
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Mr Trump, addressing a much larger crowd in Michigan, which was not socially distanced, tried to rally supporters against his rival's downbeat forecast on the Covid-19 spread.
"Just what our country needs is a long dark winter and a leader who talks about it," the president said, to boos.
This campaign was upended in the spring when the Covid-19 outbreak hit America, sending the country into lockdown and the economy spiralling, and the candidate’s differing approaches has been front and centre.
Around nine million positive tests have been logged in the country and almost 230,000 people have died from Covid-19. Around 90,000 new cases of the virus were reported on Thursday, well above the summer high of 75,000.
Mr Trump has bemoaned the media’s focus on “Covid, Covid, Covid”, warned Mr Biden will adopt an “unscientific” lockdown that will crash the economy and pledged that if he wins a second term he will steer America back to “normal”.
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The messages have been delivered in his trademark rallies, now held outside to minimise the risk of infection, but which nonetheless see crowds packed together without social distancing. Face masks are available but not obligated.
Mr Biden’s campaign and messaging is a stark contrast.
He has vowed to listen to scientists, encourage state and local officials to mandate the wearing of masks and hammered Mr Trump for not taking the threat of the virus seriously enough.
His events reflect that point. Attendees are kept to a few dozen, often local political figures. They sit in seats six feet apart or in cars at “drive-in rallies”.
Mr Trump has ridiculed the events, claiming the format has been adopted because his rival cannot draw big crowds.
Polls have consistently shown that most Americans disapprove of Mr Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Whether that proves to be true among those who cast a vote could well determine the president’s fate.
Character has been put at the centre of election. Mr Biden, who lost a wife and daughter in a car crash and later his oldest son to cancer, has projected himself as a politician who can understand the pain many Americans are feeling during the pandemic.
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Mr Trump has reprised his role as the political outsider, despite sitting in the Oval Office, vowing to still represent forgotten Americans. “If I don’t always sound like a typical Washington politician it’s because I’m not,” he said this week.
The economy remains perhaps the president’s greatest electoral strength. Despite the historic spike in unemployment - more than 50 million Americans filed for unemployment after Covid-19 struck - he remains more trusted than Mr Biden to lead a recovery.
Figures released this week showed that after the American economy had its worst quarter on record in Q2 it had its best in Q3, July to September, when an annual growth rate of 33 per cent was seen. The news helps Mr Trump argue the “great American comeback” is on.
Turnout is key: Which side is more fired up to get to the polls, those who want to kick Mr Trump out of office or those who want to hand him a second term? The indications are that both sides are fired up.
The early vote counts are defying precedent. More people in two states, Texas and Hawaii, have already voted in this election than did in 2016. Other states are close to reaching that point, with days still left to cast ballots.
With Tuesday almost here, all eyes are on two critical swing states - Pennsylvania and Florida, which given the electoral college system are of heightened importance given the sizable electoral votes up for grabs. Mr Trump won both last time but polls show him behind.
But for anyone thinking Tuesday is the finish line, election officials have cautioned otherwise. Given postal ballots tend to take longer to count it could be days not hours until some states are called.
