Reuters - The U.S. presidential campaign moves back to Ohio and
Pennsylvania on Friday as Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump
try to put their best message forward leading up to the final weekend of a
bruising race.
The race for the White House tightened significantly
in the past week, as several swing states that Trump must win shifted from
favoring Clinton to toss-ups,
according to the Reuters/Ipsos States of the
Nation project.
The two candidates are now tied in Florida and North
Carolina, and Clinton’s lead in Michigan has narrowed so much that the state is
too close to call. Ohio remains a dead heat and Pennsylvania is now tilting to
Clinton.
Clinton is still the favorite to win Tuesday's
election, but Trump now has a plausible route to victory, especially if there
is a sharp fall in turnout among African-Americans from the levels of the 2012
election.
The race tightened in the week since FBI Directory
James Comey revealed the existence of more emails possibly related to the
private server Clinton used while she was secretary of state.
That announcement, which did not indicate wrongdoing
by Clinton, gave Trump the opening he needed to shift the spotlight from
allegations of sexual assault that followed the release last month of a 2005
video in which he boasted about groping women. Trump has denied the
allegations.
With four days until Election Day, Trump and Clinton
are touring the states that are key to their path to the White House.
Clinton planned to highlight the economy in a speech
in Pittsburgh, contrasting "her vision for an economy that works for
everyone with Donald Trump’s plans to build an economy that works for people
like him," a campaign aide said.
"She’ll focus on the pressures facing women - who
are either the sole or primary breadwinner in four out of 10 families - and
working families, who are facing rising costs for everything from childcare to
prescription drugs," the aide said.
She planned to travel to Detroit afterward and end her
day in Ohio.
Trump, a New York real estate magnate who has never
run for political office, was scheduled to visit New Hampshire, where many
polls are showing a close race, before heading to Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Both candidates campaigned in North Carolina on
Thursday. President Barack Obama will continue his campaign blitz for Clinton
in that state on Friday. The Clinton campaign is trying to drum up more support
from African-Americans who are a key voting bloc for her in North Carolina.
Trump focused on military issues in North Carolina,
home to Army base Fort Bragg and Marine base Camp Lejeune. In Florida later on
Thursday, he was joined by seven Medal of Honor recipients. Trump described the
heroes as being brave in ways he wasn't.
"I wouldn’t have done what they did. I’m brave in
other ways," said Trump, who says his business experience qualifies him to
be commander in chief. "I'm financially brave.”
Reuters
0 Comments