President Barack Obama related the story of a 100-year old African American woman who fought back and voted, after her voting right was challenged by Republicans earlier this month, while asking the community to come out and vote in large numbers ahead of the final polling day on Tuesday.
The Republican presidential candidate is closing in on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in all battleground states, but all told, North Carolina is one State that can singularly stop the march of Donald Trump. Mr. Trump has no path to victory without winning North Carolina, going by all polls, and the race is neck and neck in the State. The State’s 22 percent African American population is critical to the outcome on Tuesday. Mr. Obama won the State narrowly in 2008 and lost it narrowly in 2012.
“They targeted the wrong woman -- 100 years old, could be our great grandmother; great-great-grandmother. It’s bad enough she was disrespected. Are we now also going to disrespect her because we're not voting when she fought so hard to make sure she can vote?” Mr. Obama said to wild cheers and tears.
That is not a message that will be lost on a community that walk past everyday the town square which was a centre of slave trade in the 19th century. “Their suffering and shame afforded the opportunity for future generations to be responsible citizens, free to live, work and worship…” a plaque at the former slave market says. Isabella Effon, who immigrated from Ghana in 1996, runs an African restaurant next to the town square. She did not go to Mr. Obama’s event but has already voted, for Ms. Clinton. “When you see that place everyday, you cannot miss to vote,” she said.
North Carolina’s Republican administration has introduced several measures that the U.S Supreme Court said targeted African American voters with “surgical precision,” a point that Mr. Obama mentioned in his speech. With the gap between the candidates narrowing nationally and the race tightening in Mr. Trump’s favour in all battleground States, Mr. Obama has emerged as the most effective weapon for Ms. Clinton.
Ms. Clinton also had African American rapper Jay Z and singer Beyonce doing a concert for her in Cleveland, in the battleground State of Ohio. “I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman leading the country,” Beyoncé said. “That’s why I’m with her.” Singer Jennifer Lopez and an array of stars have performed for Ms. Clinton already. On Sunday, Katy Perry will appear with Ms. Clinton in Pennsylvania. "I didn't have to bring J-Lo or Jay Z," Mr. Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania. "I am here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump had diametrically opposite interpretations of the latest job date released by the Obama administration. The data said the economy added 161,000 new jobs in October, with the unemployment rate falling slightly to 4.9%. The latest data also points to increase in hourly wages by 2.8%, year-on-year, the highest since June of 2009. Noting that jobs have been added for 73 straight months, Ms. Clinton said: "I believe our economy is poised to really take off and thrive. When the middle class thrives, America thrives." Mr. Trump said the data showed the job market was a "an absolute disaster" and does not reflect the large number of people who have stopped looking for jobs altogether. "Nobody believes the numbers anyway. The numbers they put out are phony," he said at a rally.
