Voters in Virginia, a key pivotal state, declare themselves unenthusiastic about Biden or Trump. The peculiar system of American presidential elections means that in most states, the winner takes all the electoral votes, regardless of their margin of victory.

Voting Republican in a State with a large Democratic majority like California, or voting Democratic in a Republican one like Texas, is a laudable democratic gesture, but it does not serve to tip the balance. In them - in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona... - every vote counts. And the parties fight to get every vote.