There are less than 20 days until the US presidential election on November 5th. The election battle between Vice President Harris and former President Trump continues to be a close one with neither side willing to give in. According to the average of polls compiled by the US political news site "Real Clear Politics" as of October 19th, the approval ratings of both candidates are 49.3% for Harris and 48.1% for Trump, with Harris maintaining a 1.2 point lead, making it look like a close race. Meanwhile, early voting began on the 15th in the southern state of Georgia, one of the battleground states. The number of voters on the first day of early voting last time in 2020 was about 136,000, but this time it was 313,352, a significant breakthrough. Early voting also began in the southeastern state of North Carolina, another battleground state, on the 17th, with the number of voters on the first day reaching 353,166. Both states recorded the highest number of votes on the first day ever. Meanwhile, according to the website "Poly Market," which predicts the winner of the US presidential election, the latest figures show that 59.3% of people predict that "Trump" will win, while 40.1% predict that "Harris" will win, so at this point, Trump is considered to have a high chance of winning the election. As of September 11, the day after the TV debate hosted by ABC News, Harris and Trump were leading in the support ratings in the seven battleground states by three states each, and Pennsylvania, which has the most electoral votes, was separated by 0 points, resulting in three wins, three losses, and one draw, making the two states evenly matched. However, Trump is currently leading in the support ratings in all seven battleground states. If we were to calculate the number of electoral votes to be won based on this situation, Harris would have 226 votes, while Trump would have 312, which would be more than half. Harris' camp is focusing on black men to further strengthen its election campaign. When former President Obama visited Harris's campaign office, he expressed concern about the sluggish support among black men, saying, "I don't see the same energy and mobilization as when I ran. It's even more noticeable among the brothers (black men). Are you not sympathetic to the idea of ​​a woman becoming president and are considering abstaining or other options?" As the presidential election approaches its final stages, Harris is facing a challenge in terms of the sluggish support from black men. Harris hastily announced support measures aimed at black men. On the 14th, Harris announced new policies aimed at black male voters. These include providing 1 million loans, including up to $20,000 (approximately 3 million yen) in repayment forgiveness, to black entrepreneurs, and legalizing recreational marijuana to create business opportunities for black men. According to a poll published by the New York Times on October 12, black men's approval rating for Harris is 70%, 50 points lower than Trump's 20%, but it pales in comparison to the rate of voters who voted for Biden last time (85%). ★Guests: Hiroki Sugita (journalist), Kenji Minemura (Chief researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Studies) ★Anchor: Yoshimasa Suenobu (journalist/former head of the TV Asahi political department) [TV Asahi News] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp