US poll: What the state of play is right now

President Donald Trump is stepping up his plans to return to the campaign trail after being sidelined for a week with Covid-19. He is considering holding weekend rallies in the battleground states of Florida and Pennsylvania.

Trump pulled out of an October 15 debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden, blasting the debate commission's decision to make it a virtual event.

With two US Senate seats in competitive races up for grabs in Georgia, it may be January before the electorate knows which party will control the US Senate.

If no candidate secures at least 50% of the vote, state law requires a run-off election on January 5.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden's first move if he wins the election may be to empower the Internal Revenue Service to go after wealthy tax cheats who cost the US billions of dollars in revenue every year.

More than 6.6m Americans have already voted — 10 times the number who had voted at this stage in the 2016 election cycle — indicating a potentially record turnout for the November 3 contest.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Canada is working out scenarios for a range of possible November 3 election results, according to sources, and mapping out responses to a contested or delayed result and its potential affect on auto industry supply chains.

INVESTOR VIEW

A Joe Biden victory is being priced into markets as global shares advance. A Democratic win is seen as paving the way for a big economic stimulus that counters investors' worries of a corporate tax rate hike.

BY THE NUMBERS

Joe Biden is winning support in President Trump's support base among those aged 55 and over — a bracket that Trump won by 13 points in 2016.

Older Americans, concerned about the incumbent's handling of the pandemic, are now evenly split with 47% saying they would vote for Biden and 46% backing Trump, according to Reuters/Ipsos national surveys.

Public support for Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has hit a record low, with 59% of Americans saying they disapprove of his approach and 37% saying they approve.-

Thirteen men have been arrested on charges of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has accused Trump of being complicit in the plot. — Reuters