with just two days to go until america
goes to the polls donald trump and joe
biden
are making whistle-stop tours of the key
battleground states in a bid to catch
undecided voters our north america
editor john sopple is
in washington for us john
tina thanks very much yes the nation's
capital is preparing itself for tuesday
maybe that should be bracing itself
because wherever i look shops businesses
they're all boarded up the fear of
violence is serious
whoever loses this election meanwhile on
the road
the candidates are out seeking to get
every last vote
the ponderous marathon that is a u.s
election campaign
is now a sprint hello michigan hello
pennsylvania
multiple stops a whirl of swing states
and the person running fastest is donald
trump
with polls suggesting he's lagging
behind not that you'd know it
from his confident bullish demeanor he's
so angry
you know why he's angry because he's
losing that's why he's like
no it's very agitated i don't think he
knows he's losing i don't think he knows
anything actually
joe biden has also upped his pace and is
now being helped in these closing stages
by the former president barack obama
tweeting at the tv doesn't fix things
making stuff up doesn't make people's
lives better you've got to have a plan
you've got to do the work
even off stage redefining political long
shot
no drama obama still able to command
attention
that's what i do and america's third
president and founding father of this
nation
would surely look down with delight at
the millions who've already voted
suggesting that turnout is going to be
way up in 2020.
wherever you go there are long lines of
people
but there's also a mood of deep
apprehension
you can tell the tension i mean i think
the world can even feel the tension in
the us it's like a pressure cooker
everybody's feeling to me it's kind of
like
voting for a
lesser of two evils i think it's very
important that people you know come out
and
vote vote but especially for this year
it's just
almost like crisis is going on
this is the great celebration of any
democracy
the moment when we the people decide
whether our rulers
get another term in office or get turfed
out it is empowering
but there is a fear stalking america a
deep unease
about what might come next in this
bitterly contested presidential election
and how is the nation's capital
preparing for this celebration of
democracy
well everywhere you go you see teams of
workmen boarding up shops and offices
something similar happens in the deep
south during hurricane season
with acts of god but on tuesday
america seems to be bracing itself for a
very different type of storm
and one that's entirely man-made
if britons were voting in this american
election then joe biden would win
decisively according to an opinion poll
which showed that he was way more
popular than donald trump but of course
they're not but who would be best for
britain and for the special relationship
who wins the election on tuesday night
our world affairs editor john simpson
reports
mr mcmillan praises the partnership
between his country and the united
states
it's been a partnership for decades but
never a partnership of equals
and britain has faded in importance as
the years have passed
this sculpture in new bond street in
central london
represents the way a lot of brits think
about the relationship with america
best mates essentially churchill and
roosevelt
sitting side by side planning the second
world war
but the americans don't necessarily see
it that way at all
and now we're onlookers at an election
which will affect us
immensely trump favors brexit and will
offer us a trade deal
on america's terms biden dislikes brexit
and has said that boris johnson is a
donald trump
clone kim dara as britain's ambassador
to washington
criticized trump and had to resign
if it's donald trump second term
i think we can get a quick free trade
deal he would prioritize that and if joe
biden wins
post-brexit britain no longer sitting
around that eu table can no longer be
a spokesman for uh influencer
for u.s views on what the eu
does and that used to be an important
part of the relationship
in the biden camp there's still a lot of
hostility towards boris johnson
personally
his past attacks on biden's friend and
close ally president obama
haven't been forgotten biden himself
isn't at all
anti-british but he is strongly against
a no deal
brexit
i reported on barack obama's victory as
the first black
president in 2008 now
after the killing of george floyd and
black lives matter
race is an issue again biden's biggest
decision was his choice for vice
president
kamala harris of african and asian
descent
she'd be hugely influential if biden
wins
especially to people here who've been
moved by these campaigns
she will be the second most powerful
person on the planet
and it's just i can't even say
how overwhelming this is going to be it
matters enormously because it's going to
change the landscape
the last four years under trump have
done tremendous damage
to some key british interests like nato
for instance
and joe biden will take america back
into the paris accords on climate change
another key british interest
still donald trump has set a new
standard for america abroad
biden would have to match trump's tough
approach
biden has already made noises actually
about protecting
american industry from chinese dumping
and so on so don't expect
biden to be softer than trump
it is quite simply the most important
election the world has seen in decades
and in britain it'll affect the lives of
every one of us
john simpson bbc news
and in that election it looks that
turnout is going to be way higher than
four years ago and just a word about the
polls we've had the final polls in the
key swing states which are fascinating
they show joe biden ahead in all the key
places
but not by such a margin that he can
take anything for granted
and donald trump is not so far behind
that he would think
all is lost tuesday is going to be a
nail biter
john thank you very much john sopel in
washington