Harris: 'A new beginning for America'. Trump: 'A bright future with me'

"America is ready for a new beginning. America is ready for a new path'. This is the final appeal of Democrat Kamala Harris' campaign, during a big midnight rally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, asking voters to support her to overcome divisions in the country. Even the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, on the last day of the campaign, chose to focus his efforts in the swing states: in North Carolina and in turn Pennsylvania, where he crossed paths with his rival in Pittsburgh, and then closed in Michigan. "We're going to make America great again, we're going to make our country safer," she said and then went on to insult her rival and shout in front of her people, "Kamala you're fired, you're out!" Two agendas at polar opposites, for two ideas of America: Harris sees a nation capable of looking to the future together, that does not have to 'go backwards' to face open challenges; Trump paints a bleak picture of a country in existential crisis, overwhelmed by illegal immigrants and heinous crimes, evoking the recovery of mythical eras of glory.

Enthusiasm - and hope - are certainly in the air for Harris in the heart of Philadelphia, an urban and friendly territory chosen as the finish line of a tough campaign. They are in the air, along with nervousness, among the tens of thousands of people who, since early afternoon, have created a giant human snake in the city streets to participate in the final event of his race. A rally-concert, in front of the steps of the city's great Art Museum, immortalised by Sylvester Stallone's film Rocky. At its foot is a statue of the legendary underdog of the silver screen, an underdog boxer who later became champion. Harris is counting on turning his candidacy, which he has always presented as arduous, into a similar moment of triumph, this time in the real ring of politics, over Trump.

He does so with a message that he has repeated incessantly over the last few rallies and is still repeating now, and which stands out in front of the Museum's columns and stage: he wants to be 'A president for all'. Able to bring unity, to overcome the divisions and resentments sown - accuse the Democrats - by Trump, to 'turn the page', once and for all, leaving the tycoon behind. On stage, she was preceded by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and shouts in music from the Yes she can crowd, repurposed from Barack Obama's Yes we can. She arrived after 11pm, after a field day: 'Here, together, we show what America is all about. This is the most important election. We are optimistic about what we can do collectively. It is time for new leadership in America and I am ready to offer that leadership. We will win and we will win because we know what we stand for, to turn the page on a politics of fear and division,' he said.

These slogans are echoed by the many mobilised here in the final effort to push everyone to the polls. "Who wins in Pennsylvania?", I ask Elizabeth, a young university student who has arrived with a group of friends. "Kamala, Yes!" she replies offhandedly and optimistically. Why? 'Because it is for the middle classes and women's rights and for everyone,' she adds. There are many women, of all ages, in a multi-ethnic and multi-generational crowd.

Another young woman intervened, however, with a comment that betrayed more caution. 'I hope Harris wins, to bring back at least some stability, but I'm not sure'. If the Harris campaign in closing does not lack passion, which the Democrats find auspicious, the polls, in Pennsylvania as in the other most contested states and in the country, have actually arrived at the official opening of the polls showing a substantial head-to-head, which makes it really impossible to make predictions.