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Kate Hawkesby: Americans to vote in most important election of their lives

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 4 Nov 2020, 11:20AM
The voting will stop around mid-day NZT. Photo / file
The voting will stop around mid-day NZT. Photo / file

Kate Hawkesby: Americans to vote in most important election of their lives

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 4 Nov 2020, 11:20AM

So today's the big day. The biggest day in four years for Americans, and many are calling it in fact the election of their lifetime.

Today's the day they go to the polls, well, those who haven't already voted of course. And early votes have been astonishing - more than 100 million Americans cast early votes, which is more than 70 percent of total ballots cast in 2016.

People are politically engaged and that's a good thing.

How to read into that and which way it may go? Some say Democrats are coming out in force early, we won't know that for sure until later today. The polls begin to close midday our time, but results could take awhile if things are close.

The race has been intense and it’s highlighted the true tribalism that encapsulates America right now. The very divisive factions of Democrats v Republicans. Trump’s support base is loud, posturing and seemingly omnipresent... whereas Biden’s support base is running a huge social media campaign, they have celebrities sewn up, all urging their millions of followers to vote for Biden, and he’s stayed focused on pivotal swing states and used his most powerful PR tool of all... Obama. That’s been a bit of a backfire in that Obama is so enigmatic and such a great orator that it sort of shows up the fact Biden isn’t. No one wants to come on stage after an act like Obama, and poor old Joe has had to do that over and over again.

But by comparison Trump is a one man show – he has run exhaustive rallies all over the place, from early in the morning until past midnight, he’s got energy in spades, turning up in freezing temperatures and snow, to preach to his acolytes in the MAGA hats and defend his record on running the place. Or just attack Joe Biden. But will it be enough to defy the polls which have Biden leading?

I know from friends living in America that they're worried either way what the outcome may mean. They fear for the reaction of amped up supercharged voters, that a volatile Trump base could go berserk if he loses, that angry engaged Democrats, fed up already with four years of Trump, could equally go berserk if he wins.

It's a scary time for them – something we probably can’t even comprehend here. Although we’re a tribal bunch and elections fire us up, it’s nothing like what happens over there.

The investment emotionally this time round seems on a grand scale.When we were there in 2016 the raw shock of blistering defeat inside the Hilary camp was palpable. I doubt they’ve recovered from that four years on.

I’m sure it’s part of the extreme drive by Democrats pushing everyone to vote vote vote – and it may well explain those early voters. It’s certainly Biden’s to lose, but only a crazy person would ever try to predict what Americans may do.. and it would take an even crazier one to completely rule out Donald Trump.

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