ON THE EVENING before the US election, a poll has revealed that 44% of Irish people don’t want either of the American presidential candidates to win.
In a poll conducted by Amárach Research for RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, participants were asked Who would you like to see as the next US President?
The results were:
The number of people who support neither candidate could be a deciding factor in the election, as states with low turnouts are said to strongly favour Trump.
Final push for the presidency
Clinton and Trump battled for those final undecided votes today, telling Americans the country’s fate rides on who they choose as the next US president.
Clinton, the front-running Democrat, aimed to nail down her narrow lead with stops in three battleground states, as President Barack Obama covered for her elsewhere before they join up at a star-studded grand finale in Philadelphia.
“The choice in this election could not be clearer,” Clinton said at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “It really is between division or unity. Between strong and steady leadership or a loose cannon.”
Trump, the billionaire Republican nominee, set out from must-win Florida on a five state swing, the culmination of a dramatic run for the presidency as a right-wing nationalist vowing radical change in America’s relationship with the world.
“I want the entire corrupt Washington establishment to hear the words we are all about to say: when we win tomorrow, we are going to drain the swamp,” he told cheering supporters in Sarasota, Florida.
Chants of “Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp” rose from the crowd.
Despite his outward confidence, the 70-year-old mogul needs to break through a wall of Democratic support in industrial northern states like Michigan to win.
Trump, Clinton and Obama all focused precious final efforts campaigning there and other key states.
As she boarded her campaign plane in White Plains, New York for the day’s first rally in Pennsylvania, Clinton admitted that bringing the country together again after one of the bitterest US elections ever will require “some work.”
“I really do want to be the president for everybody – people who vote for me, people who vote against me,” she told reporters.
In a video message set to air during two prime-time television shows reaching millions of viewers, Clinton warns, “Our core values are being tested in this election.”
“Is America dark and divisive, or hopeful and inclusive?” she asked as a piano trills in the background.
We’ll find out soon, as polling booths open tomorrow.
With reporting from AFP
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