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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are polling within a razor-thin margin, indicating that Tuesday's election is essentially a toss-up. Voters face a historic choice: to elect the first female, Black, and Asian leader or to reinstate a former president seeking an unprecedented comeback after leaving office in disgrace nearly four years ago.
This election cycle unfolds against a tumultuous backdrop. It began in a nation still grappling with the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to Joe Biden being elected as the oldest president in US history.
Trump's supporters notably stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn his electoral loss. Since then, the landscape has been shaped by major quarrels erupting in Europe and the Middle East, concerns about US involvement, inflation unlike anything seen by those under 40, and the Supreme Court's reduction of federal abortion rights.
This is just a glimpse of the confusiuon and upheaval Americans have faced throughout the 2024 campaign. “That was the craziest,” says Gideon Stein, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and an important Democratic donor, determining the June 27 debate as a critical moment.
Levine agrees that the president's withdrawal stands out as a defining event of 2024, along with the attempt to assassination.
On the GOP side, the most dramatic occurence occurred on July 13, when a bullet grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which resulted in the death of an attendee. Images captured a bloodied ex-president resistantly raising his fist.
The worldwide context is adding to the election's anxiety, according to Rocky Raczkowski, a Republican and former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He notes a sense of economic uneasiness and global instability, especially with the situations in Ukraine, Israel, and Iran.
Furthermore, there’s a sense of disappointment among Democrats, particularly progressives, who feel the system isn’t serving them, while Republican voters express anger at perceived betrayals by the political system.
Trump continues to fan the flames of his 2020 injustice, asserting, without evidence, that the previous election was rigged, potentially waering away trust in the upcoming 2024 results. In reply, states have strengthened election protocols to avoid any disruptions.