This is an election which according to not an insignificant number of US voters pits two candidates they did not wish to see as options for their 47th President. Now, it is widely feared that many of them, given this impasse, may opt out of exercising their ballot, come November 5. That is one subtext, for the frenetic manner in which both sides are asking the citizens to make sure they vote.

The one demographic category that is likely to figure prominently in the unlikely to vote’ list is the young American, who feel they are so pressed to make ends meet, weighed down as they are between repaying their loans and struggling to succeed in life. Many such youth hold their parents partly to blame, having pushed them into university courses beyond their affordability thresholds and getting them weighed down by loans that will take till their middle age to pay. Consequently, they don’t feel obliged to be doing mundane things like voting in Presidents who have never raised issues like the high cost brought to bear on students who are pushed into the many streams of higher education. Their logic is the older generation seemed to have been rewarded way more handsomely than they appear to be, so let them keep their preoccupation with governance and other sundry matters.

But many would have voted if they were not presented with a scenario where both Democrats and Republicans claim the people of the country have much to fear if they do not pick a side. Fear is the key, the major motivator in this election, and this is one sentiment that not all voters respond to, positively. The plank of hope, on which Barack Obama rode gloriously to victory in 2008. While it was this platform of home that Harris positioned herself on in her initial days of campaigning, her managers have been swayed by the power of leveraging fear as an instrument of convincing the undecided voter. Of course, fear continues to be the widely leveraged motivational tool by the Trump camp since day one.

The flip side is the assertion by both Harris and Trump that underlines the French phrase, Apres moi le deluge, which translates to After me, the deluge’. Originally attributed to King Louis XV or his paramour Madame de Pompadour, it holds valid for Trump’s multiple claims to what will happen to the nation if he does not get elected President again. Similarly, it is equally valid about claims made by Harris who does not spare any chance that comes its way to underline how apocalyptic the American future would be if her bete noir gets elected to office. Interestingly, both sides even claim that unless they get elected, 2024 would mark the end of democracy in the US.

The “we have no feasible option” factor is uniquely at play here. An alarmingly large number of US citizens are opting for the extreme view where the compelling conclusion is to keep away from voting altogether. Thus, many in the Republican camp wish they would have preferred a fresh face. They are all for making a complete break from the past that Donald Trump is still clinging on to, for dear life, from his earlier avatar as president. Then there are the many Democrats who always wished for a moving-forward option to Joe Biden. Yet, they cannot wish away the reality of finding little or no salvation in Kamala Harris. Arguably, they are weighed down as much by a strong dose of misogyny as they are with an array of misgivings about her track record as Vice President.

Both Kamala and Trump are at that stage of their campaign where they feel it inevitable that they make inroads into the rival vote-bank. While Harris has been steadily chipping away at those Republican voters disillusioned by Trump’s many inconsistencies and shortcomings, Trump has started making inroads into the Black and Latino mail voters, who have had their share of unease about voting a woman to the highest office in the land. Barack Obama may chide’ black men in the swing state of Pennsylvania for finding excuses not to support Harris, but will that do the trick? The same argument holds good for those Latino men who seem far from convinced that their vote has to go to Harris.

Sure, there has always been one school of thought that held the election was not going to be as closely fought out as it was being made out to be. Admittedly not a very popular viewpoint, as it gets deafened out in the sheer shrillness that marks all that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have been saying about each other the past few weeks. Accordingly, it is argued that the US Presidential election can only be made to appear an edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting thriller, as it is just not a done thing to call the outcome so early in the day.

There are not many takers for this, especially given the latest surge by Trump in the polls by some of the major news agencies, with the latest one by NBC News finding it a dead heat’, at 48 per cent each. Evangelical Christians gathered in tens of thousands at the National Mall in Washington DC this Sunday with spiritual fervor to smoothen the way for the anointed one, Trump. It is their ardent wish that they have helped re-draw the battle lines so that a bulk of the country would rally behind the “true Christian leader” Trump whose views on a whole bunch of sinful issues are unambiguously Biblical unlike the stance taken by Harris.

It is either a case of the Republicans making that last desperate push in the final stretch which the Democrats can weather or they have started reeling under the relentless volley of body blows. Meanwhile, it would be anybody’s bet how an increased engagement of the US in the impending Iran offensive by Israel would be brought to bear on the electoral prospects of both Harris and Trump. Plain logic would have it that any external military engagement by the US would favor the fortunes of the incumbent party, in this case, the Democrats, and therefore, Harris. But this election so far has been about anything but the obvious. It has ridden of rhetoric and Trump is no novice at spinning narratives to his advantage. Harris would have to weather that storm, if it comes to that, with several fact-checkers aiding her cause.

Tailpiece: Recurring hurricanes hitting Florida, with Milton closely following the heels of Helene, seem to be gaining in their destructive intensity. The resultant reluctance of insurance companies to continue underwriting damage may well decide how the people of the country decide to choose their future residences, as much on account of natural disasters as climatic extremities like intense heat and cold. However, whether or not such decisions will re-determine the political composition of swing states remains to be seen.

- Vinod Mathew is a senior journalist and author; views expressed are his own.