The presidential candidates make their final pitch in North Carolina before Election Day.

News & Views

Former President Donald Trump (left ) and Vice President Kamala Harris (right) Photos: Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images; Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

As anyone paying any attention is well aware, North Carolina is one of just a handful of U.S. states that will determine the outcome of this year’s presidential election. Thanks to our nation’s controversial – some would say obsolete and deeply flawed — electoral college system for electing presidents, it’s quite possible for candidates to lose the popular vote and still win the election by prevailing in the right states. Indeed, it’s already happened twice in this century.

As a result, this year’s two main candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former president Donald Trump, as well as their many surrogates, have visited North Carolina repeatedly in recent weeks.

Indeed, this past Wednesday, Harris and Trump held rallies less than 60 miles apart at almost the same moment, with Harris addressing a large crowd at a Raleigh’s Walnut Creek music park and Trump holding forth at an arena in Rocky Mount.

In his remarks, Trump returned once again to his familiar themes of grievance and division, as he spoke of plans to deport immigrants, recycled some of the familiar false claims about vote counting, and hurled personal insults at Vice President Harris. Meanwhile, in her remarks in Raleigh – which were preceded by spirited introductions from both Gov. Roy Cooper and Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Attorney General Josh Stein – Harris called for national unity behind her theme of a New Way Forward. And while she was highly critical of Trump, she also pledged to be the president of all Americans and to give those who disagree with her a quote “seat at the table.”

We hear excerpts from both Trump and Harris in this week’s show.

The bottom line: Rarely have two candidates offered such different visions of America’s future. If you haven’t already voted, please do so this Tuesday.