TRANSCRIPT
You might think this is an election almost entirely about personality: to be specific, the personality of one man.
Do voters like Donald Trump, or find him distasteful?
Yet the election’s not entirely a popularity contest, there are big issues at play.
Now different polls suggest different issues are at the top of voters' minds.
Here are a few of the key ones.
Top of the list in many surveys, as Bill Clinton’s advisor famously said:
"It’s the economy, stupid".
Inflation’s been slowing in the US but the cost of living is still a concern for many.
And Donald Trump’s trying to tie the issue to Vice-president Kamala Harris every chance he gets.
“For all of the working people struggling under Kamala's inflation nightmare, we will have large tax cuts for workers. We're going to have beautiful additional tax cuts, including no tax on tips. No tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors. And you deserve it.”
Ms Harris has been defending her administration’s handling of the economy, pointing to job growth, unemployment rates at historic lows, and recent investments in infrastructure.
Critics argue, though, that her message hasn’t resonated strongly enough with voters struggling with day-to-day costs.
Then there’s the broader issue of democracy itself, a vote-winner for Ms Harris, given her opponent still hasn’t accepted the results of the last election.
Her campaign ads regularly feature footage from the January 6 capital riots, and she’s been endorsed by a number of high-profile Republicans who say it’s time to put country over party.
"Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. And the tragic truth, the tragic truth that we are facing in this election for president of the United States is that there is actually an honest question about whether one of the candidates will uphold the oath to the Constitution of the United States."
On the other hand, Mr Trump continues to galvanise his supporters by framing himself as the voice of those who feel disenfranchised, claiming the 2020 election was stolen.
He is promising to root out corruption and reduce the influence of special interest groups and lobbyists in Washington if re-elected.
One recent poll found abortion is the top motivating issue for voters and by far the top issue for young women.
The Vice-president has been a vocal opponent of abortion restrictions implemented by Republican governors, although she has been talking less about the topic in recent days.
"Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged and will stop at nothing to claim unchecked power for himself. He wants to send the military after American citizens. He wants to prevent women from making decisions about their own body. He wants to threaten fundamental freedoms and rights like the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride."
Mr Trump’s base praises his appointment of three hardline conservative Supreme Court justices during his first term, which shifted the balance of the court to six conservative judges and led to the overturning of the precedent-setting abortion law Roe versus Wade.
This has energised Republicans, who hope to add at least one more right-leaning justice in a second Trump term.
On the other hand, Ms Harris’ critics argue that despite the threat to reproductive rights, she has failed to push strong legislative measures in response.
Immigration remains another key issue.
Despite only building 130 kilometres of new barriers, Mr Trump sees this as a vote-winner and has been using increasingly violent rhetoric, and making false claims about illegal immigrants.
"A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats, they're eating the pets of the people that live there."
Colorado Democrat Senator Michael Bennet says Mr Trump should not be re-elected based on lies he has told, especially about immigrants.
"Donald Trump has invited himself to Aurora to do what Donald Trump does best, which is to demonise immigrants, to lie and to serve his own political purposes. And we can't let him divide us any more. We can't go back to the chaos that he represented. In my view, the idea that he is here making up lies about Aurora. Lies about Colorado is reason enough that he should not be re-elected president."
Donald Trump says mass deportation is the answer to America's immigration woes.
“We will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States. We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country. We will defend our territory. We will not be conquered. We will not be conquered.”
While Mr Trump continues to use increasingly harsh rhetoric, Ms Harris has faced criticism for the administration’s handling of the U-S-Mexico border, including overcrowded detention facilities and delayed reforms.
Both issues weigh heavily on voters' minds as the election draws near.
What’s just as interesting are the issues not being prioritised by voters.
Climate change barely rates a mention.
Nor foreign affairs, and those are the two issues where decisions made by voters will have an enormous impact on the rest of the world.
