US Election Latest: Dems decisive on Hurricane Milton, Trump latest and new polls

• Democrats are trying to improve on their response to Hurricane Helene as Hurricane Milton approaches

• What's new in Trump-land - Musk is making a splash, and big claims from Watergate hero

• An embarassment of riches from the polls - let's dig in

• Check out our 2024 US Presidential Election Live Blog here

• View Betfair Exchange politics markets as you have never seen before at Betfair Predicts

Dems on the front foot with Milton

Hurricane Milton, the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, is making its way to Florida. The storm is expected to make landfall on Wednesday night.

The hurricane intensified faster than almost any other storm on record, and was also the fifth-most intense hurricane in the Atlantic on record.

The storm is breaking multiple records, and there are evacuation orders in place for a huge swathe of Florida's coast, stretching inland.

As we mentioned previously when Southern States in the US were battling Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump criticised Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' response to such disasters - saying that Harris spent too much time fundraising instead of traveling to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene.

The Democrats are intent on not making the same mistake this time.

According to POLITICO, the White House is now "playing offense" and making hundreds of calls to state and local officials to ensure they have the aid they need to combat the potential crisis.

Musk offers cash to Trump voters

Elon Musk, who joined Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday, is becoming increasdingly involved in the presidential campaign. Musk plans to return to Pennsylvania to support Trump at campaign events before 5 November.

A new initiative of Musk's, launched on his official X account, also offered $47 payouts to people who manage to register one swing-state voter to sign a petition supporting two amendments to the US Constitution.

The payout is designed to encourage registering voters who might be supportive of Trump.

Expect more of this in the final sprint to Election Day.

Meanwhile, a bombshell from veteran Washington investigative journalist Bob Woodward says that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 tests to Vladimir Putin and claims Trump has spoken to the Russian President at least seven times since Trump left office.

Woodward was one of the two journalists who broke the Watergate Scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.

Will it make a difference? It hasn't yet as Trump is ahead at 20/211.95 on the Betfair Exchange compared to Kamala Harris' 21/202.05.

Listen to Politics...Only Bettor US election special with Adam Boulton

Polls galore

As mentioned before, this is one of the most-polled elections in history, if not the most.

Redfield and Wilton Strategies find Kamala Harris ahead in five out of nine possible swing states. Harris now leads Trump by one point in states that were previously tied - Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Interestingly, Democrats are ahead in the betting markets in two of these three. It is only Pennsylvania where they are falling short - with the Republicans favourites to carry the state at 20/211.95.

Yet according to Yahoo and YouGov, the national picture looks different - with Harris at 48% compared to Trump's 46%. The same poll in September had Harris at 50% to Trump's 45%.

Harris also leads Trump by three points according to Issues & Insights, and by four points according to Big Village.

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