It’s finally time to vote as Clinton, Trump make final pitch

VOTERS CAST ballots at the St. Thomas More polling location in Cleveland on Nov. 8. The Justice Department will deploy 500 personnel to polling stations, including those in Providence and Pawtucket, on Election Day to help protect voters against discrimination and intimidation. / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/LUKE SHARRETT
VOTERS CAST ballots at the St. Thomas More polling location in Cleveland on Nov. 8. The Justice Department will deploy 500 personnel to polling stations, including those in Providence and Pawtucket, on Election Day to help protect voters against discrimination and intimidation. / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/LUKE SHARRETT

Preserve the U.S. political establishment or blow it up?

That’s the question facing 226 million Americans eligible to vote for president Tuesday, with as many as 50 million having done so already. The winner inherits leadership of the world’s largest economy and a nation perhaps irreconcilably divided over immigration, trade and its role in the world.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee of a major party in U.S. history, held a narrow lead in most pre-election polls. The 69-year-old former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state may have a solid resume, but she’s been dogged by federal probes into her handling of classified e-mails, questions about her family’s foundation and public doubts about her trustworthiness.

Her rival, Republican real estate magnate and reality television star Donald Trump, defeated 16 primary opponents and promises to “drain the swamp” of Washington corruption. Yet Trump, 70, has faced withering criticism for his treatment of women and denunciations of immigrants. At times he fought with fellow Republicans as much as Democrats.

- Advertisement -

The campaigns drew very different visions of the U.S.: Clinton cast herself as an optimist and unifier who will build on the economic growth of President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump, meanwhile, portrayed himself as the savior of a nation hobbled by bad trade deals, declining manufacturing and beset by illegal immigration and terrorist threats. He promises to “make America great again.”

Polling stations had opened in many Midwest and Western U.S. states by 9 a.m. ET. Clinton cast her ballot in Chappaqua, New York, as a few dozen voters swarmed her and chanted “Madam President!” “I’ll do the very best I can if I am fortunate enough to win today,” Clinton said. Asked if she thought of her mother when she voted, Clinton said, “Oh I did.”

Trump was expected to vote at a school in Manhattan. The key battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida will be among the first to close. And despite the divided political climate in America, the candidates will be near each other Tuesday night as both campaigns plan victory parties in Manhattan.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index slipped, European shares pared an advance and Treasuries eked out gains pointing to investor caution before the election. Stock markets traded in narrow ranges after U.S. equities jumped the most in eight months on Monday, following the FBI’s affirmation of its recommendation not to prosecute in the Clinton e-mail case.

Early forecasts

Unlike previous years, when major news outlets held off on publishing results until polls closed, this election could see forecasts of the results coming out from startup companies while voters are still casting their ballots. Along with Florida and Pennsylvania, key states to watch include New Hampshire, Ohio and Nevada.

Clinton and Trump spent the final days of the campaign barnstorming battleground states as polls showed the race had tightened. Even so, state-by-state surveys suggest Clinton holds a narrow lead and remains favored to reach the 270 Electoral College votes she needs to claim victory.

“The choice in this election could not be clearer — it really is between division and unity, between strong and steady leadership and a loose cannon,” Clinton said at a rally Monday in Pittsburgh before flying on to Michigan. “We don’t have to accept a dark and divisive vision for America. Tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted America.”

‘Winning again’

Trump also sought to shore up his support with a succession of rallies, repeating his promises to build a wall on the border with Mexico, slash taxes and repeal the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s health-care law. To chants of “President Trump,” he said he didn’t see a path for Clinton to win.

“Do not let this opportunity slip away,” he told supporters Monday in Sarasota, Fla. “It will be the most important vote you have ever cast because we don’t win anymore. We don’t win anymore. We will start winning again and winning like you have never seen before.”

Later, at a rally in Michigan that ended after 1 a.m. local time, Trump said, “Go to bed, go to bed right now, get up and vote.” Returning to a favored setting later Tuesday morning, Trump in a Fox News phone interview offered a mix of the positive — saying the election process had been “beautiful” — with warnings of “purposely wrong” polls and criticism of celebrities who’d campaigned for Clinton.

E-Mail hacks, probe‘Rigged’ election?

On the stump, Trump repeatedly raised the possibility of a “rigged” election, saying he was fighting an uphill battle against the media and the Washington political establishment. He urged his supporters to monitor polling stations for signs of fraud, singling out cities with large African-American populations like Philadelphia and St. Louis.

Trump’s son Donald Jr. said Tuesday on MSNBC his father would concede if he clearly loses in a fair vote.

Clinton’s running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, said on CNN that between long lines at his Richmond polling place and “what we’ve seen in early vote and absentee voting, we think there is going to be a huge turnout and that is good news for democracy.”

The Justice Department will deploy 500 personnel to polling stations in 28 states, including in Pawtucket and Providence in Rhode Island, on Election Day to protect voters against discrimination and fraud. That’s down from about 780 who were sent out in 2012, the result of a Supreme Court decision that limited federal oversight in some jurisdictions.

Clinton was buoyed on Friday by the latest employment data, which showed the U.S. added 161,000 jobs in October, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent and average hourly wages rose 2.8 percent.

Trump says economic growth under Obama has been too slow. He said he’d tear up accords including the North American Free Trade Agreement and a pending deal with Asian nations, while weighing sanctions on companies that send jobs overseas.

While the national race will come down to Clinton or Trump, the winner in some states could depend on how much support turns out for third-party candidates. Former Governors Gary Johnson of New Mexico and William Weld of Massachusetts lead the Libertarian Party ticket, garnering 10 percent in some polls. Jill Stein had single-digit support nationally with the Green Party. And independent candidate Evan McMullin vied for leadership in some polls in Utah, where his Mormon background was a draw to voters in a state pioneered by the religion’s founders.

And as much as Americans have longed for the campaign to just be over, they learned in the contested 2000 race between George W. Bush and Al Gore that Election Day isn’t necessarily the conclusion of the presidential race. Both major parties have been “lawyering up” for weeks now in case the results are close enough to contest or there are credible reports of irregularities.

No posts to display