Five Swing States to Decide US Presidential Election 

by Stephen Lendman(stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman) 

After months of campaigning and a record $14 billion spent by the Trump and Biden teams, it all comes down to results in 5 battleground states.

Here's where things stand at the moment with vote counting still ongoing:

Pennsylvania: Trump leads by 9.1% — with 36% of votes to be counted, most favoring the challenger.

Keystone State results may be decisive. Pre-election, I told a friend that if Trump wins PA, Ohio and Florida, he should triumph over Biden.

Wisconsin: Biden up by 0.6% — with 5% of votes to be counted. 

Michigan: Biden ahead by 0.7% — also with 4% of votes to be counted.

North Carolina: Trump leads by 1.4% — with 6% of remaining votes to be counted.

Georgia: Trump up by 2.2% with 6% of votes to be counted.

If Trump wins Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, Biden taking Wisconsin and Michigan, DJT will need Nevada's 6 Electoral College votes for a 270 majority over Biden by a whisker.

As things stand at mid-morning Wednesday, Biden has 238 Electoral College votes to Trump's 213.

Note: The above differential is the Wall Street Journal's spread.

For the NYT, it's 227 to 213, favoring Biden.

The Washington Post puts Biden ahead by a 224 - 213 margin.

At this time, things can go either way. In the popular vote that doesn't matter, Biden leads Trump by a 50% - 48% margin.

According to the most recent pre-election polls, Biden was projected to win the popular by over 7 points.

Three polls had him up by 10 points, another by 11. One poll alone called the race a near-dead heat, Biden ahead by one point.

As things now stand, that poll was closest to how things may turn out — a very close race that likely won't be decided at least for a few more days.

Results depend on how quickly remaining votes will be counted.

With Pennsylvania's vote count likely to be last among the above swing states, its final tally may decide things for Trump or Biden.

A sidebar to the election is the amount being bet on the outcome.

Reportedly it's around $1 billion, double the amount in 2016.

According of head of the British sports political betting firm GVC Matthew Shaddick, the Trump/Biden race has been a boon for UK betting houses.

Betting at GVC's Ladbrokes, Coral and BWin houses have Biden winning over Trump.

Yet according to Shaddick, 70% of bets placed over the past week were for Trump, calling the turnaround "astonishing."

Rival house William Hill also has the Dem candidate as the favorite. 

Shaddick called the US presidential race the biggest betting event of the year.

William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams made a similar comment, adding:

It's because "colorful character" Trump brings out the animal spirits of gamblers.

The race without him would attract much less interest.

No matter who wins, gaming houses profit hugely when volume is high.

Given teams of lawyers representing both candidates with a possible High Court battle ahead, counsel for Trump and Biden will be winners no matter how the race turns out.

Although well short of an Electoral College majority on Wednesday, Trump declared victory pre-dawn.

Never short of hyperbole, he said, "(w)e were winning, and all of a sudden it was just called off."

He accused Dems of trying to "disenfranchise" his voters, adding:

"They knew they couldn't win. This is a fraud on the American public."

Separately, his campaign manager Bill Stepien said "(w)e trust our data." 

"We trust our math. It's called this race spot on to this point. It's why we feel the confidence we have in the votes left to be counted."

"If we count all legally cast ballots, we believe the president will win."

According to senior Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller, "(w)e are obviously leading a full-court press to make sure that we have all of our legal teams…in place." 

"We want to make sure that all legally cast ballots are counted." 

"We also want to make sure that illegally cast ballots are not counted."

Whenever US elections are held, privileged interests benefit exclusively at the expense of ordinary Americans — exploited, not served.

That's the disturbing reality of US fantasy democracy — benefitting the privileged few at the expense of the great majority.

Instead of improving over time, things noticeably worsened in recent decades.

The chasm between super-rich Americans and the nation's working class is likely greater than ever before in the nation's history.

It's at a time of Greater Depression with harder than ever hard times perhaps to continue for years.

If Trump surprises by defeating Biden and Depression conditions deepen next year — what's likely — will many DJT supporters have voter remorse?

Whatever the outcome, hard times are likely to be around for some time.

Both right wings of the one-party state are committed to serve monied interests alone.

On that score, Trump and Biden are two sides of the same coin. So are Republicans and Dems.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My two Wall Street books are timely reading:

"How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion, and Class War"

https://www.claritypress.com/product/how-wall-street-fleeces-america/

"Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

https://www.claritypress.com/product/banker-occupation-waging-financial-war-on-humanity/