This is the web version of ‘Rumbo a la Casa Blanca’, EL PAÍS’ weekly newsletter on the US elections. If you want to subscribe for free, you can do so at this link.
Greetings, readers:
It’s today. Donald Trump is once again facing the Democratic candidate in front of the cameras, but this time, as you well know, it won’t be Joe Biden on the other side, withdrawn from the race and from virtually any relevance, despite still being the president of the United States, the “leader of the free world.” Waiting for Trump is Kamala Harris, the vice president who has generated an almost unprecedented wave of enthusiasm among the Democratic ranks since she emerged as the only viable candidate in the days following Biden’s resignation.
But now, after the honeymoon, the polls show a technical tie and the debate, after the previous one caused the presidential campaign to go up in smoke, has generated enormous expectations. As it is the only confirmed face-to-face between the candidates to occupy the Oval Office starting next year, there are those who think that tonight the elections could be won or lost.
The Philadelphia debate will be a duel between a prosecutor and a convicted criminal, with millions of voters as the jury. However, it is the Democratic candidate who is being judged above all. Here, EL PAÍS’ chief correspondent in the United States, Miguel Jiménez, breaks down the key issues of the debate: the economy, the border, abortion and democracy. He himself will write to you directly in an extraordinary issue of this newsletter after the debate this week.
But even though the drumbeat of Tuesday’s debate has drowned out everything else for days, news affecting the campaign has not stopped over the past week.
On Wednesday, the shooting at a Winder, Georgia, school by a 14-year-old student who killed two teachers and two students has once again made gun regulation a campaign issue. The two candidates and their parties have opposing proposals on how to deal with the epidemic of mass shootings that has plagued the United States time and again — on Saturday, a gunman, who remains at large, opened fire on a highway in Kentucky. Democrats are calling for stricter access to guns and a ban on assault weapons, while Trump and Republicans are refusing to accept new restrictions and, faithful to their script on the issue, are betting on strengthening security in schools.
The issue was raised after statements by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, who referred to the shootings as a “reality” (the literal meaning in English, “a fact of life,” is more indifferent or resigned). Democrats have recalled that Trump boasted of being “the biggest fan” of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and that at the organization’s convention he boasted about having resisted pressure during his presidency and having “done nothing” to restrict access to firearms. After a shooting at a school in Iowa that left three dead in February, he said: “We have to get over it: we have to move on.” It is very likely that during tonight’s debate the issue will once again have its moment in the spotlight.
As the aftermath of the shooting reverberated through the national conversation, several high-profile Republican Party figures made headlines by publicly turning their backs on Trump and announcing their support for Kamala Harris. Former presidential candidate John McCain’s son, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and his daughter Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman from Wyoming, all endorsed Harris in the face of what they say is a threat Trump poses to American democracy and global security. It’s no small feat for such high-profile figures among conservatives to take this step. But in the ultra-polarized environment and fanatical Trump base, it’s hardly a tipping point.
In the end, the entire week has been lived among the campaign’s avid followers – and here we journalists are at the front of the queue – as an eternal preview of the debate. It has been like attending a movie and seeing trailer after trailer, without realizing that they were actually part of the film.
Other election news
So here are some other bits of news that you may have missed amid the anticipation of the Trump-Harris debate:
#drum #roll #debate #drowns
