Clinton, Trump trade barbs in final pitch as US goes to polls

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded barbs in their final pitch to voters as the curtain came down on the ugliest campaign in US history and voting began today in the knife-edge polls that will elect America’s first woman president or put a political outsider in office.

Fighting for every single vote at stake, Democratic nominee Clinton and her Republican rival Trump made their last minute forceful argument before the American people with their own vision for the world’s largest economy.

Clinton, 69, was joined by husband Bill as she addressed a massive rally in Raleigh in the key battle ground state of North Carolina, which was entertained by Lady Gaga.

Trump, 70, made a last minute scheduled stop in Michigan to address thousands of his supporters hoping that he might be able to swing this state from the Democrats.

The two rallies ended around 1 am (local time), just six hours before opening of the polling booths in the East Coast.

An estimated 200 million people are eligible to cast their votes to elect the country’s 45th president along with hundreds of Congressmen and members of state legislatures and local civic bodies.

More than 42 million have already voted using the “early voting” provision of the American electoral system.

Clinton and Trump crisscrossed several stops in key battleground states on the final day of campaigning which the US media has termed as the “ugliest” and the most divisive till date.

“This election is basically between division and unity in our country. It’s between strong and steady leadership or a loose cannon who could put everything at risk. It is between an economy that works for everyone or one that is even more stacked for those at the top,” Clinton told a cheering crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“None of us, none of us, want to wake up on Wednesday morning and wish we had done more,” she said, which she repeated in her other election rallies, including the one in Philadelphia, which was also addressed by US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle.

“Years from today, when your kids and grandkids ask what you did in 2016, when everything was on the line, I want you to be able to say that you did vote, you voted for an inclusive, big-hearted, open-minded country and a future that will make sure that we all keep moving together,” she said.

“Because I do believe we are stronger together; and you voted for an America where we build bridges, not walls; and, maybe most importantly, you voted in great numbers to demonstrate conclusively, once and for all, that, yes, love trumps hate. Let’s get out and vote,” Clinton said.

Latest poll indicated that while the election seems to have tightened in the last few days, Clinton maintains a slight lead over Trump. Almost all major polls are predicting a victory for Clinton, but Trump appeared confident of winning some of the key battleground states and thus wrest the White House from the Democrats after a gap of eight years.

“Do you want America to be ruled by the corrupt political class. Or do you want to be ruled by you, the people,” Trump said in Michigan.

A record 46.2 million of the estimated 200 million voters have exercised their franchise in the 2016 US presidential elections before the official voting day, surpassing the 2012 record when 32.3 million people had voted in advance.

Experts said the massive turn out in 2016 general elections in early voting reflects the change in the voting patterns of Americans. “Some voters are clearly changing as they opted to vote early instead of the election day,” said Michael McDonald, an early-voting expert who runs the elections project.

He, however, said that high level of early voting may also be a sign of increased overall turnout. McDonald said that there are signs that Clinton would benefit from early voting. “You can look at the demographics of these folks. I can tell you for sure it is not a surge of older white men making up the unaffiliated,” he said.

“In comparison to 2012, there are more white women than white men among unaffiliateds, and African-Americans, there are some, and other persons of colour. “Don’t think of these as monolithically white males, that’s wrong, don’t think of them as independents, because independents tend to break more Republican than unaffiliateds,” he added.

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