PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — We are in the final moments of a long campaign season that has been both nasty and costly — not just in dollars, but in the nightmarish emotional burden it has placed on millions of people on all sides of this divided nation. Whatever your perspective, whatever your value system, whatever your choices, it's time to look at what's next, win or lose.
The polls open Tuesday morning. Some surveys have good news for major parties. There's no doubt about it: This contest will be decided not by the candidate who exaggerates the most but by the party that gets the most voters to the polls.
If anything, the race seems tighter than ever in the swing states. In Pennsylvania, the deadlock seems genuine. So, no forecasts from me. I wouldn't dare. But I can tell you this: The Democratic Party in Pennsylvania believes it's on a roll.
Dan Mariano leads a door-knocking training for Kamala Harris campaign volunteers two days before Election Day in Philadelphia.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Charlie Gerow, an iconic Republican strategist who served as a young man in the Reagan White House, says Trump's campaign in Pennsylvania has the best ground game in decades.
Bob Brady, chair of Philadelphia's Democratic City Committee, quipped, "Trump has a stealth ground game — so stealth that you can't find anybody." Brady says he's thrilled about what he calls the new energy in the Harris-Walz campaign
In truth, they are all nervous, tiptoeing through the drama. Both tell me turnout is everything.
The two top Pennsylvania races are the battle for the state's 19 electoral votes, and the $200 million attack ad festival between Sen Bob Casey and businessman David McCormick. This contest has all the elements of a jaded electoral system — unlimited spending and a playing field of vicious and incendiary claims. It will be a relief to see the personal attacks vanish and the voters' decisions unfold.
With the presidential election comes a shadow campaign that really began two years ago, a campaign that is already underway to challenge the outcome, and a second one that is already in place to fight any challenge. For the sake of integrity, both sides need to be candid but responsible. It is important that everyone knows that their vote counts.
On that note, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday delivered a blow to a Pennsylvania Republican Party attempt to restrict mail-in votes from being counted. The high court declined to hear their appeal of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that allows faulty mail-in ballots to be replaced by a provisional ballot on Election Day. If a mail-in ballot was invalidated because a voter forgot to include the "secrecy envelope" or to write the date, they can still vote on Tuesday. The RNC estimates tens of thousands of invalidated votes may be saved this way.
If you have not yet voted, get to your polling place and get ready for living history on Tuesday — or Wednesday … or maybe Thursday.
