Hello friends, today let's talk about the U.S. election.
The 2024 U.S. election is arguably the most competitive in 60 years. 75 million Americans have already voted early, and the moment of 'revelation' is approaching. As Election Day on the 5th gets closer, both the U.S. and the world are anxiously waiting to see whether Democratic presidential candidate Harris will become the first female president in U.S. history or if Republican presidential candidate Trump will return to the White House after an 'unprecedented campaign'.
This year's U.S. election has been tumultuous, marked by dramatic events such as Trump being shot and Harris stepping in temporarily for Biden, yet the two party presidential candidates have not been able to widen the gap in support rates—neither side has achieved a lead of at least 5 percentage points in national polls since the beginning of this year.
According to CCTV News, based on data from the University of Florida's Election Lab, as of the afternoon of November 3 local time, over 76.46 million voters across the U.S. have voted early for the 2024 presidential election, with North Carolina's early voting rate hitting a historic high, with over 4.2 million ballots cast at polling stations.
Harris and Trump are going all out." Another report from AFP noted that the two rivals 'met' on the 2nd, as Harris's 'Air Force Two' and Trump's private jet shared a landing pad in North Carolina.
On the 2nd, Harris and Trump also made appearances in Georgia and Virginia. Reuters reported that both candidates insisted on discussing familiar topics that day, with Harris stating that Trump is 'becoming increasingly unstable' and 'filled with resentment.' Trump warned again about immigration issues, claiming that if Harris wins, 'every town in America will turn into a dirty, dangerous refugee camp.'
Just a few days ago, on October 31 local time, according to a report from Forbes, a poll showed that U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris leads former President and Republican presidential candidate Trump by a slim margin of just 1%, but 10% of voters may change their minds before the election.
Harris leads Trump in 'swing state' polls, with three 'blue wall' states being key.
According to CCTV News, a poll conducted jointly by The New York Times and Siena College shows that in the seven key 'swing states' for the 2024 U.S. election, U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris has a slight overall lead of 48% to 47% over former President and Republican presidential candidate Trump.
According to polls,
In Nevada, Harris has a support rate of 49% among potential voters, while Trump's support rate is 46%;
In North Carolina, Harris leads Trump with a support rate of 48% to 46%; in Wisconsin, Harris leads Trump with a support rate of 49% to 47%;
In Georgia, Harris leads Trump with a support rate of 48% to 47%;
In Arizona, Trump leads Harris with a support rate of 49% to 45%;
In Michigan and Pennsylvania, the two candidates have equal support rates of 47% and 48%, respectively.
This poll was conducted from October 24 to November 1 and included 7,879 voters.
Bill Gates vs. Musk, 83 vs. 52, billionaires are choosing sides.
According to statistics, in this year's U.S. election, 83 billionaires have supported Harris, while 52 have supported Trump.
The notable wealthy supporters of Harris besides Bill Gates include Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg.
Notable wealthy supporters of Trump include banking magnate Tim Mellon, entrepreneur Elon Musk, and the widow of gambling tycoon Miriam Adelson. Among them, Musk, who has reportedly donated at least $110 million to Trump, even proposed a plan to swap 'cash' for support a few days ago, hosting an online lottery for voters in seven 'swing states', awarding $1 million as a prize to one registrant from each state participating in the petition every day.
It is worth noting that the lottery in the first three days was limited to Pennsylvania voters, which is also a heavily contested 'swing state' with 19 electoral votes.
"Major donors" are not philanthropists who help realize the 'American Dream'; the reasons for different billionaires choosing sides in the two camps are also quite clear. Gates chooses to support Harris to maintain the vested interests of traditional policies related to healthcare and climate. Behind the massive donations, capital pressures policies to ensure that their interests remain stable over the next four years.
For Musk, Trump's policies are more favorable. He has a series of businesses involving satellites, electric cars, brain implant chips, and AI robots, all of which heavily rely on federal contracts and regulations. The Biden administration has been quite cold towards him over the past four years.
Once a presidential candidate finally becomes the President of the United States, reciprocation is necessary; during the policy-making process, the interests of large corporations and the wealthy must be prioritized, even starting from the campaign phase. Just as Trump, who has been publicly clear about 'opposing everyone driving electric cars', changed his tune after gaining Musk's support, stating, 'We must support electric vehicles, even if they are just a 'small part' of the entire automotive industry.' He also promised that if elected, he would appoint Musk to lead the 'Government Efficiency Committee.'
For example, the rampant gun violence in the U.S. cannot be separated from the massive financial support of gun interest groups for politicians who favor gun rights and their efforts to block gun control legislation; the rampant drug crisis is similarly linked to the significant lobbying and political donations from large pharmaceutical companies.
The wallets of American voters may be valuable, but the interests of most voters are like a drop in the ocean or a grain of sand in the desert, unable to shake the overall situation and destined to be ignored. Holding the right to vote but unable to have a real impact on politics, the 'elected president' ultimately becomes the 'money-selected president.' Does it really matter who becomes the President of the United States? How far are we from achieving the 'sweet nothings' in campaign ads?