US election: 2 days left – What polls say, what Harris and Trump are up to

The US presidential candidates campaigned in the key swing state of North Carolina on Saturday, seeking to lock in more votes for the election on Tuesday, November 5.

It marked the fourth day in a row that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump visited the same state on the same day, highlighting how votes from a few key states would decide the outcome of the polls.

What are the latest updates from the polls?

Nationally, FiveThirtyEight’s latest poll tracker showed Harris ahead by a very slim 1 point, within the margin of error. Neither of the top two contenders breached the 50 percent mark. Harris’s average is 47.9 percent against Trump’s 46.9 percent.

In the so-called Blue Wall states, which typically tilt Democrat but are considered swing states this year, Trump is slightly ahead at 47.9 percent to Harris’s 47.6 percent in Pennsylvania, while Harris is 1 percent ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Trump is ahead of Harris by 1 percent in Nevada, 2 percent in Georgia and North Carolina, and 3 percent in Arizona.

But in a potentially major political shift in Iowa, a state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020, a highly respected pollster showed that Harris is 3 percentage points ahead of Trump at 47-44.

The poll, jointly published by the Des Moines Register newspaper and Mediacom, showed Harris picking up support from women, particularly in older demographics and among independent voters who were not aligned with a political party.

At the same time, the polls showed that only 89 percent of Republicans supported Trump, which means he is in trouble securing his base.

Other polls from the state, however, showed Trump still leading Harris.

What was Harris up to on Saturday?

Campaigning in the city of Charlotte in North Carolina, Harris made a passionate appeal to young voters, a Democrat-leaning demographic, to head to the polls. Past elections, however, have shown that fewer of them showed up to vote compared with older voters.

“I see the promise of America every day in the young leaders who are voting for the first time,” she said.

“You are determined to live free from gun violence, to take on the climate crisis and to shape the world that you will inherit.”

She also continued to sharpen her attack on Trump, saying the former president only cares about his interests, without a comprehensive plan for the future.

“If he is elected, Donald Trump, on day one, would be in that office stewing over his enemies list,” she said. “But when I am elected, I will walk in on your behalf, working on my to-do list.”

When her speech was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, Harris repeated the same line she had said in previous rallies, “We all want that war in the Middle East to end.

“We want the hostages home. And when I am president, I will do everything in my power to make it so.”

Earlier in the day, Harris also attended a rally in Atlanta during which she called Trump “unstable” and “out for unchecked power”.

After campaigning in North Carolina, Harris made an appearance on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in New York City alongside the actor who portrays her on the programme, Maya Rudolph.

“I’m going to vote for us,” Rudolph told Harris.