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Letter from America: Joe Biden has gone quiet. He must not misread the race

Their political ideologies are worlds apart. So too are their strategies and it’s never been more apparent than in this final push.

While Donald Trump spent the weekend visiting seven states, Joe Biden went to Pennsylvania. Yesterday, he went quiet. With nine days until the election, that was stunning by historical standards. If he loses, it’ll be seen as a symptom of a candidate who misread the race and voters. Trump’s schedule tells me he’s working hard to hold on to what he has, visiting Waukesha in Wisconsin this week, an area he won four years ago by his biggest margin in the state.

He’s holding rallies until the bitter end, a repeat of his 2016 endgame. Advisers told him it wouldn’t work then. It did. But this time there’s no James B Comey letter to change the race.

His team believes aggressive door-knocking in key battleground states will pull him through. But he’s also got a vastly more diverse electorate to win over and elderly and white working-class voters he can’t lose.

Biden’s team still believes in the basement. He spent most of last week there in Wilmington, Delaware. A nervous young supporter at the skate park in town told me: “He needs to get out there.” Another said forcing him on the trail looked like “geriatric abuse”. His team think it looks prudent. To me, it also feels like they’re trying to let Trump makes the mistakes so their guy doesn’t have to.

Biden does have more money and a clear path to victory if he flips Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan. There are even pleas for him to visit Texas, Iowa and Georgia, states traditionally out of reach. Risky business. I remember a woefully attended rally in reliably Republican Arizona for Hillary Clinton in the final phase. She was focused on moon shots while her vital blue wall crumbled. What does feel likely about this election is a better turnout. More than 50 million have already voted. The polls consistently have Biden ahead. But Trump is putting his eggs in the election day basket, discouraging his supporters to vote by mail. The results from there could recast the narrative of this race. Biden’s team say it’s going to be close and they’re right to be cautious. Democrats lost before through a good dose of complacency and arrogance. Their best bet is they can now meet the moment even with a very imperfect candidate.

Cordelia Lynch is US correspondent for Sky News. She also hosts the Divided States podcast and will be covering the US Election for Sky News on November 3. @CordeliaSkyNews

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