BY: ZOE MELNYK
Does anyone else feel like this election has been going on for decades and that it would never actually end?
Well, the day that basically everyone in the entire world has been waiting for is three days away on November 8th, and somehow, it could potentially be a close race.
Six months ago, or even a week ago, it seemed as though the democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had this election in the bag. Yet somehow, good ol’ Donald Trump has managed to hang on.
For anyone looking to navigate the literally thousands of “polls” circulating the internet, Real Clear Politics is usually a good source for accurate statistics as well as including polls from popular news sources such as Reuters, Washington Post, and The Economist.
This graph, from Real Clear Politics may look like an ordinary graph tracking Clinton and Trump’s chances of winning the election, but it is actually a visual representation of every Democrat’s worst nightmare and every Republican’s dream coming true.
(In the graph, Drumpf is Trump’s family’s original last name. Drumpf = Trump, watch this video for more information)
Like I said, just a week ago, Clinton had an almost five point advantage, and two weeks ago she had almost 10 points on Trump.
However, as the election draws closer it seems as though there is a shift towards Trump and the two candidates are less than two points apart.
While Hillary Clinton still looks like she has a decent lead, there is a chance that Trump could swoop in and win the election.
How could this happen?
Well, the Washington Post released four different ways Trump could actually win the election.
Each one of the options listed from the Washington Post is somewhat of a stretch, but they are still possible. For example, all four options have Trump winning in Florida and Ohio, which is likely. However, in order to win, Trump will have to win some (but not all) states that are currently blue, including Colorado, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin.
Currently, according to the FiveThirtyEight, Hillary still has an estimated 64 per cent chance of winning, but that gap is rapidly closing from an 81 per cent chance just a week ago.
FiveThirtyEight also offers a visual map for anyone interested in which states are leaning towards Trump or Clinton.
According to this map, the states you need to look out for on election night are Nevada, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, and New Hampshire.
So, during election night this Tuesday, grab a bottle of vodka and settle in for what could be the most entertaining and terrifying election of our lifetime.
