Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump brought their brutal White House battle to a crescendo, their campaigns peaking with huge rallies showcasing starkly different visions for the future of the world’s greatest power.
As foreign capitals looked on in grim suspense, and with Tuesday’s poll hanging in the balance, the 69-year-old Democrat gathered a galaxy of political and show business star power in Philadelphia, birthplace of the republic, to urge unity.
“Tomorrow, we face the test of our time,” she declared in front of 40,000 people, a record for her in a campaign where she has maintained a narrow opinion poll lead but has had less success than her Republican opponent in turning out passionate crowds.
“There is a clear choice in this election. A choice between division or unity, an economy that works for everyone, or only for those at the top; between strong, steady leadership, or a loose cannon who could put everything at risk.”
At the same time Trump, the 70-year-old tycoon who turned his conservative party into a vehicle for populist bombast, concluded a last-gasp tour of swing states by painting his rival as doomed to defeat and the corrupt creature of a discredited elite.
“Do you want America to be ruled by the corrupt political class, or do you want America to be ruled, again, by the people?” he demanded, at a rally in New Hampshire, a state won in 2012 by President Barack Obama that Trump hopes to flip into his column.
Promising to end “years of betrayal”, tear up free trade deals, seal the border, halt the drug trade and exclude all Syrian refugees, Trump told his supporters: “I am with you and I will fight for you and we will win.”
Some 40 million Americans have already cast ballots in states that allow early voting, and tens of millions more will turn out on Tuesday to end what has become a long, grueling and divisive campaign that has stirred dark undercurrents in the electorate.
Clinton remains favorite to succeed Obama and become the United States’ first female leader.
But her campaign she has been dogged by allegations that she put US secrets at risk by using a secret private email server while at the State Department and the race remains perilously close in a handful of key states.
Support for Trump dropped fell footage emerged last month showing him bragging about having sexually assaulted women, but polls have tightened as the big day approaches. (AFP)