Harris, Trump focus on household hardships in campaign's final push

Race boils down to whom voters trust to improve their lives and livelihoods

- Lin Suling

In the final stretch of the most consequential election of 2024, the race could boil down to whom Americans trust to improve their lives and livelihoods.

The economy has consistently ranked as the No. 1 issue for registered US voters over the past few years, particularly after President Joe Biden in June signed into law border restrictions to tackle migrant crossings, cooling concerns on illegal immigration.

A Gallup poll published on Oct 9 shows 52 per cent of voters say the economy is an "extremely important" issue influencing their vote—the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. This figure hovered between 38 per cent and 44 per cent during past presidential elections. Another 38 per cent rate the economy as "very important".

The economic mood, however, is mixed and patchy, meaning votes will go to whichever side offers the more compelling argument. While economic data posted this past week shows solid quarterly growth and ebbing inflation, new jobs created in October fell to the lowest since 2020, after two devastating hurricanes and labour strikes.

Thus far, the economy has not featured that highly in either Vice-President Kamala Harris' or former President Donald Trump's messages. Both have mostly exploited emotive issues to rally their base.

For Trump, this includes stoking grievances with the establishment and scapegoating, evidenced by the inflammatory rhetoric at his Madison Square Garden rally.

The playbook for Ms. Harris, meanwhile, has focused on abortion rights and safeguarding democracy. In delivering her last major speech from the Ellipse near the White House, where Trump had all but instigated an angry mob on Jan. 6, 2021, to sack Congress, she wanted to remind voters of his attempt to subvert democracy.