Tight Competition Between Harris and Trump in Key U.S. States Less Than 48 Hours Until Election

As Kamala Harris travels to the states known as the "Rust Belt" on Sunday, Donald Trump heads to the largest swing states in America. Thus, both candidates for the U.S. presidency have ramped up their campaign activities with less than 48 hours remaining until voting day. The states known as the "Rust Belt" are several formerly industrial states in the northeastern U.S. that have struggled with severe economic decline since the 1980s. Swing states are those where the close votes between two rivals play a decisive role in one of the candidates' paths to the White House. By Sunday, 75 million early votes had been cast, and the competition between the two candidates is very close; in fact, more states are effectively tied in polls than has been seen in any similar election before. By Saturday evening, the average of polls compiled by the media company "RealClearPolitics" indicated that in seven decisive states for the presidential election, neither candidate had a lead of more than three percent. Harris, who is working hard to maintain support from the Great Lakes region states in the northeastern U.S. that have always been vital for Democratic campaigns, begins her day in Michigan. She will first go to Detroit, then stop in Pontiac, and end the night with a rally at Michigan State University. Trump's schedule for Sunday focuses on Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, which are three major battlegrounds in the Electoral College system. The Electoral College system grants power and influence to states based on their size, not just the number of votes collected in the election. According to the French news agency, none of Trump's campaign events on Saturday were held in areas with large Latino populations, but Pennsylvania, which he is visiting, is a swing state with a large Puerto Rican population. At last week's Trump campaign rally in Madison Square Garden, preliminary speakers made statements that led to dissatisfaction among Latinos and Puerto Ricans. Michigan is one of the seven main battlegrounds in the U.S. election. Trump flipped this state, which was a traditional Democratic stronghold, in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden returned it to the Democratic column in 2020, benefiting from the support of union workers and the large Black community. However, this time, Harris faces the risk of losing support from the 200,000-strong Arab American community, which has condemned Biden's policies regarding the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Polls show that support from the Black community for the Democratic ticket has decreased, and Harris's aides acknowledge that there is still much work to be done to garner sufficient support from Black men to match Biden's winning coalition in 2020. To attract support from beyond the usual bases, Harris unexpectedly ended her campaign day on Saturday by appearing on "Saturday Night Live," where she mocked her electoral rival Donald Trump. The 60-year-old Harris saw an unexpected advance on Saturday, as the latest Des Moines Register poll before the election, recognized as a reliable indicator of broad public sentiment, showed a significant shift in favor of Harris. She is now leading in Iowa, a state Trump easily won in 2016 and 2020. According to this poll, which showed Harris trailing Trump by four points in September, she is now ahead by three points. Reuters reported on Sunday, November 4, in an analysis regarding the current situation in Iran on the eve of the U.S. presidential election and the outlook for continued direct mutual attacks between Iran and Israel, that Iran's leadership and allies are preparing for the possible return of Donald Trump to power in the White House, which they assess as a "terrible" outcome of the U.S. election. According to Reuters, a potential Trump victory would mark the beginning of more troubles for Tehran and its proxy groups in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, and Iran has many reasons to fear another Trump presidency. Iranian, Arab, and Western officials interviewed by the news agency agree that the main concern of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding Trump's potential return to the White House is stronger U.S. support for Israel. The analytical report states that their concern is that Trump's victory could encourage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran's nuclear sites, carry out targeted assassinations, and repeat the "maximum pressure" policy, which would be enforced through intensified sanctions against Iran's oil industry. Officials from countries that provided this assessment to Reuters predict that Trump, by applying maximum pressure on Tehran, will eventually force the leader of the Islamic Republic to accept a new nuclear containment agreement under terms set by the U.S. and Israel. An "Arab security official" stated in an interview with Reuters that with Israel's deadly attacks on Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, Tehran can no longer showcase its influence in the region through its militia forces. A senior Iranian official also told Reuters that Tehran is "prepared for any scenario, regardless of who enters the White House, and has found ways to export its oil for decades," but another Iranian official said Trump's victory would be "a nightmare" and that he would increase pressure on Iran to please Israel, which would paralyze the country's economy. Arab and Western officials have warned that the more the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the possibility of taking steps toward building a nuclear bomb, the more it provokes Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. A Western official stated that if Trump regains power, he will support Israeli plans to attack Iran's nuclear sites. In recent days, Kamal Kharrazi, a close advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, spoke about the possibility of the Iranian government reconsidering its nuclear doctrine and taking steps toward acquiring a nuclear bomb. Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized last week that Israel's main goal of preventing Iran from achieving military nuclear capability remains intact.