Washington: On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden exuded faith in a huge win in the presidential polls as Americans went to cast their ballots in large numbers to determine the fate of the two leaders in the most critical democratic exercise in the world. Trump predicted he will be re-elected to the White House by a red tide, while Biden, his Democratic opponent, is optimistic of a "major victory." Trump exuded confidence in winning the race by a far higher margin by hosting as many as five election rallies in as many states on the final day of the campaign.

"We're going to get a red tide. It's going to be a beautiful sight, "Trump said Monday to thousands of his supporters in Wisconsin. Trump asked his backers to send him a slightly bigger margin of victory at his last rally at Grand Rapids in Michigan, which occurred at midnight. The President told his cheering supporters, who had been waiting for him for hours in the freezing Michigan cold, "We want to do it just like last time, but give me a little more leeway than last time." Trump, 74, said to his supporters in Florida, "The amount of excitement and I think you're going to see a great red wave tomorrow." Meanwhile, at a Pittsburgh event on Monday headlined by famous singer Lady Gaga, Biden, 77, said he is assured of a major win. "Folks, I have a feeling that we're coming together tomorrow for a major win," he said.

"We will bring an end to a presidency tomorrow that has left hard-working Americans out in the cold. We will bring an end to an administration tomorrow that has fanned the flames of hate. We can put an end to a presidency tomorrow that has struggled to protect this nation,” the former vice president said. With the polls showing that the margin between the two leaders, Biden continues to lead over Trump. According to Real Clear Politics, which keeps track of all major opinion polls, Biden's average lead by Tuesday morning has decreased to 2.3 per cent in the main battleground states. This is beyond the error margin. Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona are the top battleground states. According to Real Straightforward Politics, Biden's usual national lead is not 6.7 percentage points.

Biden is favoured to win the race, said Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, which is known for predicting election outcomes. Silver said on Tuesday, "Our model forecasts Biden to win the popular vote by 8 percentage points, 1 more than twice the expected margin of Clinton at the end of 2016." "Indeed, this year, some of the dynamics that helped Trump to prevail in 2016 do not seem to exist. In this election, there are slightly less undecided voters, with just 4.8% of voters stating they are undecided or intending to vote for third-party candidates, compared to 12.5% at the end of 2016. And this year, the polls have been slightly more stable than they were four years ago," he wrote.

"Finally, unlike the 'Comey letter' four years ago in the closing days of the campaign, when then-FBI Director James Comey told Congress that new information had become important to the private email server investigation used by Clinton as Secretary of State, there was no dramatic development in the final 10 days to further shake up the race," Silver said. The key to the White House relies on the election outcomes in five states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona, according to The Hill newspaper.