As the clock ticks down to Election Day, with only a week remaining, the political landscape is charged with tension and urgency. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Washington, D.C., while former President Donald Trump is set to campaign in Pennsylvania—a pivotal state that could very well determine the election's outcome.

The election atmosphere grew charged on Monday when incendiary devices were detonated at two ballot drop boxes, one in Portland and the other in nearby Vancouver, Washington. The act destroyed hundreds of ballots and has been described by officials as a "direct attack on democracy." For many voters, the heightening of security measures also brings to the forefront integrity in the electoral process.

Current polling trends

As of Tuesday, Harris leads by a slim margin in national polls, with a 1.4 percentage point lead according to FiveThirtyEight's daily election poll tracker. Her lead has decreased from the 1.7-point lead she had last week. The final outcome is likely to be razor-thin margins in several key swing states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada.

Here are two campaigns spending lavishly in these states to win undecided voters. Harris is ahead only by a hair in Michigan, while Trump has the slim advantage in Pennsylvania and Nevada, and a more comfortable lead in North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. The race in Wisconsin is so tight that not even one-tenth of a percentage point separates the candidates, and the contest remains highly competitive just days before the election.

Kamala Harris campaign events

Over the weekend, Kamala Harris attempted to sail her campaign winds in Michigan. Harris, accompanied by running mate Tim Walz and singer Maggie Rogers, rallied at Ann Arbor for a concert aimed at stirring the vote of youth, as in the 2022 midterms. It was the first time Harris was confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters who raised issues on issues of Gaza. She accepted their concerns in a measured response, while emphasizing that she would keep working for the end of the conflict.

Harris's campaign is focused on Latino voters, especially in Pennsylvania where about 8 percent of the population is Puerto Rican. As Harris said, comments by Trump at his latest rally, when a comedian referred to Puerto Rico using derogatory terms, have brought out an important gap in the political discourse. "He is obsessed with his grievance, with himself and with dividing our country," she said.

Campaign trail of Donald Trump

Trump, on the other hand, wins strong support in battleground states through a campaign. On Monday, he spoke to a packed crowd in Georgia where, turning down the Nazi and other comparisons to himself and the supporters, he declared bluntly, "I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi." Critics have been raining all this on him from various places, including Harris, an ally of those labeling the president as a fascist.

As Trump continues to rally his base, it is worthy of mention that he made no remarks on the scandalous Puerto Rico comments in his New York rally but instead utilized the platform for rallying strength and unity.

Outlook

With just days remaining in the campaign, both candidates are really cranking up the heat. Harris will speak to a crowd of 20,000 at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., which is the same place Trump held his infamous "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6, 2021. It is a crucial event for Harris because she needs to seal up her support among undecided voters.

At the same time, Trump is rallying in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a state he barely leads Clinton in the polls. The Puerto Rican vote there is crucial as previous remarks by Trump could have sealed his fate in a very important demographic.

The stakes are as high as they can ever get in the last days to the election. In swing states, the two are almost levelled. A couple more days and the crucial mobilization of voting demographics along with fallout from new events will determine everything. Harris and Trump will pull out all the stops in the final few days as strategies start being released and tension grows. The nation holds its breath and hopes that this election may turn out to be a historic one.